The speeches & table-talk of the prophet Mohammad; chosen and translated, with introd. and notes by Stanley Lane-Poole

Koran. Slections. English
The speeches and t2ble-
talk of the prophet Muhammad

PHE TABLE TALK OF
?7ROPHE TT MUHAMMAD

SELECTED AND TRANSLATED
WITH
INTRODUCTION

AND NOTES —

By
S. LANE -POOLE

SH. MUHAMMAD ASHRAF

KASHMIRI BAZAR - LAHORE (Pakistan)

THE
SPEECHES AND TABLE-TALK
OF THE

PROPHET MUHAMMAD

Chosen and Translated, with Introduction and Notes

By
STANLEY LANE-POOLE

SH. MUHAMMAD ASHRAF .

KASHMIRI BAZAR, LAHORE (Pakistan) \y, _,

met

Reprinted, 1966
Reprinted, 1971

PRINTED AT ASHRAF PRESS, LAHORE AND
PUBLISHED BY SH. MUHAMMAD ASHRAF
KASHMIRI BAZAR, LAHORE - (PAKISTAN)

God! There is no god but He, the living the
steadfast! Slumber seizeth Him not, nor sleep.
Whatsoever is in the heavens, and wiiatsoever is in
the earth is His. Who is there that shall plead with
Him save by His leave! He knoweth what was before
them and what shall come after them, and they com-
Pass not aught of His knowledge, but what He wiileth.
His throne overspreadeth the heavens and the earth,
and the keeping of bothis no burden to Him: and He
ts the High, the Great !

(The Throne Verse, ii 256)

ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .

The Qur’dn is capable of adequate representation
in small compass ‘and approximately chronologi-
cal order. The original audience of Muhammad’s
speeches : Arabian characteristics in desert-life
and town-life, poetry and religion. Muham-
mad’s early life, person and habits, call to
preach, and work at Mekka. The three periods
of Mekka speeches. Change of position at
Medina, and consequent change in oratory.
The Medina speeches. The Traditions or
Table-talk. References.

THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA

|.—THE POETIC PERIOD. Ayat. 40-44, A.D.
609-613

THE NIGHT (xcil.) : . :

The difference between the good and the wicked

in their lives and their future states ; warning
of hell and promise of heaven.

THE COUNTRY (xc.)

The steep road to the life to come is by charity
and faith.

THE SMITING (ci.)

The terrors of the Judgment Day and the Bottom-
less Pit.

38

a0

40

41

Viii

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE QUAKING (xcix.) . : ,
Signs of the Last Day; when all secrets shall be
revealed. 7

THE RENDING ASUNDER (IXXX1i.)

Signs of the Last Day ; man’s unbelief; angels
record his actions, by which his fate shall be

decided.
THE CHARGERS (c.)
Man’s ingratitude towards God will be exposed
on the Last Day.
SUPPORT (cvii.) .
Uncharitable hypocrites denounced.
THE BACKBITER (civ.) . . :
The covetous slanderer shall be cast into Blasting
Pell,
THE SPLENDOUR QF MORNING (XCiii.)
The goodness of God towards Muhammad must
be imitated towards others.
THE Most HIGH (1xxxvii.)

God the Creator is to be magnified. Muhammad
is enjoined to admonish the people; the oppo-
site fates of those who hearken and those who
turn away; the message is the same as that
delivered by Abraham and Moses.

THE WRAPPING (Ixxxi.)

Signs of the Last Day. Authenticity of the
Qur’an ; Muhammad neither mad norpossessed.
The Qur'an a reminder, but man is powerless
to follow it except by God’s decree.

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE NEws (Ixxviii.)

Men dispute about the Last Day: yet it “shall
come as surely as God created all things. The
last trump and the gathering of mankind to
judgment. Description of the torments of Hell
and the delights of Paradise.

THE EACTAIny

Signs of the Last Day. The three kinds of men
—prophets, righteous, and wicked—and the
future state of each. The power of God shown
in creation. The Qur’dn true and sacred. The
State after death.

THE MERCIFUL (ly.)

A Benedicite reciting the works of God, and the
Judgment and Paradise and Hell, with a refrain
challenging genii and mankind to deny His
signs.

THE UNITY (cxii.) ; : : : ;
A profession of faith in one God.
THE FaTIHAH-(i.) : ; :
A prayer for guidance and help: the Muslim
Paternoster.

Il.— THE RHETORICAL PERIOD. Ayat. 44-46,
A.D. 613-615 ; : ‘ : ; .

THE KINGDOM (Ixvii.) . : ‘ : ~ °
The power of God shown in creation : Heli the
reward of those who disbelieve in God’s mes-

sengers and discredit His signs. None but God
knows when the Last Day will be.

1X

Oo

53-

57

61

62

63
65-

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE MOON (liv.) . ;

The Judgment approaches, but men ainet need
the warning, and call it a lie and magic. Even
so did former generations reject their apostles;
the people of Noah, Ad, Thamid, Lot, Pharaoh;
and there came upon all of them a grievous
punishment. Neither shall the men of Mekka
escape. Refrain: the certainty of punishment
and the heedlessness of man.

ORCS

Why is the Resurrection so incredible? Does
not God continually create and re-create ?
Former generations were equally incredulous,
but they all found the threat of punishment was
true. So shall it be again. The recording angels
shall bear witness, and hell shall be filled. Who
can escape God, who created all things, and to
whom all things must one day return ?

MS. (SERVI)

Muhammad a true messenger from God to warn
the people, whose ancestors would not be warn-
ed. God hardens their hearts sothat they cannot
believe. Everything is written down in the Book
of God. Just so did the people of Antioch reject
the apostles of Jesus, and stoned the only con-
vert among themselves ; and there came a shout
from heaven and exterminated them. Why do
not men reflect on such warnings ? Signs of the
Resurrection are seen in the revival of spring
and the growth of plants, and the alternations
of night and day, and the changes of the sun

TABLE OF CONTENTS

and moon, and the ships that sail on the sea.
Yet they are not convinced! The Last Day shail
come upon them suddenly. Paradise and Hell.
The Qur’dn not a poem, buta plain warning of
God’s might and judgment to come. Their idols
need protection instead of giving it. God who
first made life can quicken it again: his iat
is instantly carried out.

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (XVii.) .

The dream of the journey to Jerusalem. The
two sins of the children of Israel and their
punishment. The Qur'an gives promise of a
great reward for righteousness and an aching
torment for disbelief. Each man skall be judged
by his own deeds, and none shall be punished
for another’s sin, nor was any folk destoryed
without warning. Kindness and respect to
parents, and duty to kinsfolk and travellers and
the poor; hospitality, yet without waste ; faith-
fulness in engagements, and honesty in trading,
enjoined. Idolatry, infanticide, inchastity, homi-
cide (except in a just cause and in fair retalia-
tion), and abusing orphans’ trust, and pride,
forbidden. The angels are not the daughters of
God: Hehas no partner, and the whole crea-
tion worships Him. But God hardens people’s
hearts so that they turn away from the Qur’an.
The Resurrection is nearer than they think. The
faithful must speak pleasantly and not wrangle.
Muhammad has no power to compel belief. The
false gods themselves dread God’s torment. ‘The
power of working miracles was not given to

80

Xil

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Muhammad, because the people of yore always
disbelieved in them: so Thumid with the mira-
culous camel. The story of the devil’s original
enmity to Adam; but the devil cannot protect
his followers against God, to whom belongs all
power on land and sea, and whose is the Judg-
ment. Muhammad nearly tempted to tempo-
rize. Prayer at sunset and dawn and night vigils
commended. Man’s insincerity. The spirit sent
from God. The Qur’dn inimitable. The demand
for miracles and for angelic messengers repu-
diated. The fate of those who disbelieve in the
resurrection. Moses and Pharaoh: the conse-
quences of unbelief, The Qur’dn divided for
convenience. The solace of the faithful. God
and the Merciful the same deity.

Ill.—THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD. Ayat.

46-43, A.D. 615-622

THE BELIEVER (x1.)
There velation is from God. Former generations

rejected their apostles and were punished. The
angles praise God. The despair of the damned.
The great tryst: the judgment of God is unerr-
ing. The generations of yore were greater than
those of today: yet nothing could save them
from God. The history of Moses and Pharaoh
and the Egyptian convert, and the evil fate of
the infidels. The proud shall not win in the end.
Praise of God in His attributes. Hell is the goal
of idolaters and polytheists. Patience enjoined
upon Muhammad. The signs of God’s. might
and the dire consequences of doubting it.

91
93 -

TABLE OF CONTENTS Xili

JONAH (x.) . : : : : ; : Bad tty
Repudiation of sorcery. Signs of God’s power,
and the consequences of believing and dis-
believing them. Insincerity of man: but former
generations were destoryed for unbelief.
Muhammad has no power to speak the Qur’an
save as God reveals it. Idolatry ridiculed.
Miracles disclaimed. Man believes when he
is in danger, and disbelieves when he is rescu-
ed. The life of this world like grass that will be
mown to-morrow. The reward of well and evil
doing and the judgment of idolaters. God’s
mightin creation. The Qur'an no forgery, as will
be plainly seen one day. Every nation has its
apostle and its appointed term, which cannot
be hastened or retarded. Now the people are
warned, and all they do is seen of God. God’s
power : He has no Son. The story of Noah and
the ark, and Moses and the magicians, and the
passage of the Red Sea, and the establishing of
the Children of Israel. The people of Jonah.
God compels unbelief or belief as He pleases,
and none can believe without His permission.
The signs of God are in the heavens and the
earth. True worship.

THE THUNDER (xiii) : : 114

The mighty works of God. The Pete of
unbelief. Miracles disclaimed. The omniscience
and unvariableness of God, the hurler of
thunder and lightning and the giver of rain.
The reward of the faithful; the torment of
apostates. God misleads whom He will and, if

XiV

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

He pleased, could guide all mankind aright.
Apostles have been mocked at before : and the
mockers were punished. Paradise. Muhammad’s
task is only to warn: it is God’s business to

punish.

SPEECHES OF MEDINA

THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE. Ayat. 53-63,

A.D. 622-632.

DECEPTION (IxiV.) ;
God’s power in creation. Former apostles were

rejected. The resurrection, though disbelieved,
is a fact—a day when people shall find their
hopes are deceptive. Paradise and Hell. All
things are ordained by God. Obedience to God
and the apostle enjoined. The pleasures of this
world are to be distrusted, but the fear of God
and alms-giving commendable.

IRON (lvii.) .
Praise of God and exhortation to belief and

alms-giving and fighting for the faith. The
future state of the faithful and of the hypocrites.
The charitable shall be doubly rewarded. The
present life only a pastime and delusion. Every-
thing predestined. The sending of the apostles,
of Noah, Abraham and Jesus. Asceticism
repudiated. Exhortation to faith and fear.

THE VicTorY (xlviii.) .

A victory was given to encourage the faithful.

Commendation of those who pledged themselves

Was

P23

125

129

TABLE OF CONTENTS

to support Muhammad and rebuke to the
desert Arabs who held aloof (on the occasion
of the expedition to Hudeybia) ; they shall not
share in the spoil (of Khaibar). Promise of
booty. The truce (of Hudeybia). The opposition
to Muhammad’s pilgrimage to Mekka shall be
withdrawn ; and a victory shall soon be won.
The devotion of the faithful and their likeness.

HeELe (cx).

2

Exhortation to praise God in the hour of
triumph.

TAE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA

RELIGIOUS LAW .

>

Creed and good works. Prayer. Alms. Fast.
Pilgrimage. Fighting for the faith. Sacred
month. Forbidden food. Oaths. Wine. Gambl-
ing. Statues. Divination.

CiviL AND CRIMINAL LAW .
Homicide ; the blood-wit ; murder ; retaliation.
Fighting against the faith. Theft. Usury.
Marriage ; adultery ; divorce ; slander. Testa-
ments and heirs. Maintenance for widows.
Testimony. Freeing slaves; Asylum. Small
offences and great.

THE TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Concerning prayer .
Of charity : : :
Of fasting ; : i : ‘

XV’

13+

135:
eT a

14h

151
152

XV1

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Of reading the Quran

Of labour and proft

Of fighting for the faith .
Of judgments .

Of women and slaves

Of dumb animals

Of hospitality .

Of government

Of vanities and sundry matter
Otdeath . ;
Of the state after death
Of destiny

NOTES. : : : : -

Index of chapters of the Qur’dn translated

155
156
jee,
160
161
163
164
165
166
169
172
176
178
190

INTRODUCTION

THE aim of this little volume is to present all that is most
enduring and memorable in the public orations and private
sayings! of the Prophet Muhammad in such a form that the
general reader may be tempted to learn a little of what a
great man was and of what made him great. Things are
constantly being said, written, and preached about the
Arabian Prophet and the religion he taught, of which an
elementary acquaintance with him would show the import-
ance. Noone would dare to treat the ordinary classics of
European literature in this fashion; or, if he did, his expo-
sure would immediately ensue. What I wish to do is to
enable any one, at the cost of the least possible exertion, to
put himself into a position to judge of popular fallactes
about Muhammad and his creed as surely and certainly as
he can judge of errors in ordinary education and scholar-
ship. I do not wish to mention the Qur’an by name more
than can be helped, for I have observed that the word has a
deterrent effect upon readers who like their literary food
light and easy of digestion. It cannot, however, be disguised
that a great deal of this book consists of the Qur’an, and it
may therefore be as well to explain away as far as possi-
ble the prejudice which the name is apt to excite. It is not
easy to say for how much of this prejudice the standard
English translator is responsible. The patient and merito-
rious George Sale put the Qur’dn into tangled English and
heavy quarto,—people read quartos then and did not call
them editions de luxe,—his version then appeared in a

1. Here-by ‘orations’ the author means the Divine Revelations,
-and by ‘sayings’ he means the Traditions (Hadith).
1 ‘

2 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

clumsy octavo, with most undesirable type and paper ; finally
it has come our in a cheap edition, of which it need only be
said that utility rather than taste has been consulted. One
can hardly blame any one for refusing to look even at the
outsides of these volumes. And the inside,—not the mere
outward inside, if I may so say, the type and paper,—but
the heart of hearts, the matter itself, is by no means calcu-
lated to tempt a reluctant reader. The Qur’dn is there
arranged according to the orthodox form, instead of in
chronological order,—it must be allowed that the chronolo-
gical order was not discovered in Sale’s time,—and the
result is that impression of chaotic indefiniteness which im-
pressed Carlyle so strongly, and which CarlyJe has impressed
upon most of the present generation.

The attitude of the multitude towards Sale’s translation
of the Qur’dn was on the whole reasonable. But if the faults
that were found there are shown to belong to Sale and not
to the Qur’an or only partly to it, the attitude should
change. In the first place, the Qur'an is not a large book,
and in the second, it is by no means so disorderly and anar-
chic as is commonly supposed. Reckoned by the number
of verses, the Qur'an is only two-thirds of the length of the
New Testament. But the real permanent contents of the
Qur’an may be taken at far less even than this estimate.
There is also a considerable portion of the Qur’an which is
devoted to the exposure and confutation of those who, from
political, commercial, or religious motives, made it their
business to thwart Muhammad in his efforts to reform his
peple. These personal, one might say party, speeches are
valuable only to the biographer and historian of the times.
They throw but little light on the character of the man
Muhammad himself. They show him indeed, to be—what
we knew him before—a sensitive man. But for this purpose
one instance is sufficient. We do not form our estimate

INTRODUCTION 3

of a great statesman from his moments of sensitivity, but
from those larger utterances which reveal the results of a
life’s study of men and government. So with Muhammad,
we may abandon the personal and temporary element in the
Qur’an, and base our judgment upon those utterances which
stand for all time, and deal not with individuals or classes,
but with man as he is, in Arabia or England, or where we
will. This position is not taken with the object of saving
Muhammad from himself. His attacks upon his opponents
will bear comparison with those of other statesmen. They
are doubtless couched in more vigorous language than we
are accustomed to, and where we insinuate, Muhammad
curses Outright. But in the face of a treacherous and malig-
nant opposition, the Arabian Prophet comported himself
with singular self-restraint. Leaving out the Jewish stories,
needless repetitions, and temporary exhortations or personal
vindications, the speeches of Muhammad may be set forth
in very moderate compass. One speech—sura, or chapter,
at it is generally called—follows another so much to the
same effect, that a limited number will be found to contain
all the ideas which a minute study of the whole Qur’an could
collect. I believe there is nothing important, either in doc-
trine or style, which is not contained in the twenty-eight
speeches! which fill the first part (containing the Quranic
Suras) of this small volume. If [ were a Mohammadan, I
think I could accept the present collection as a sufficient re-
presentation of what the Qur’an teaches.

It is something more, however, than any supposed
length or obscurity that has hitherto scared people from the
Quran, The truth is that the atmosphere of our Arabian
Prophet’s thoughts is so different from what we breathe

1. By ‘speeches’ is meant the Divine Revelations throughout this
book.

4 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

ourselves, that it needs a certain effort to transplant our-
selves into it. That it can be done, and done triumphantly,
may be proved by Mr. Browning’s Saul, as Semitic a poem
as ever can from the desert itself. We see the whole life
and character of the Bedawy in these lines :—

Oh, our manhood’s prime vigour! No spirit feels waste,

Not a muscle is stopped in its playing nor sinew unbraced.

Oh, the wild joys of living! the leaping from rock unto
rock,

The strong rending of boughs from the fir-tree, the cool
silver shock,

Of the plunge in the pool’s living water, the hunt of the
bear,

And the sultriness showing the lion is couched in his lair.

And the meal, the rich dates yellowed over with gold dust
divine,

And the locust flesh steeped in the pitcher, the deep
draught of wine,

And the sleep in the dried river-channel, where bulrushes
tell

That the water was wont to go warbling so softly and well.

How good is man’s life, the mere living! how fit to
employ

All the heart and the soul and the senses for ever in joy.
It is not easy to catch the Arab spirit as Mr. Browning

has caught it. Arab poetry is a sealed book to most, even
among special Orientalists ; they construe it, but it does not
move them. The cause is to be found in the abrupt transi-
tion of thought which is required if we would enter into the
spirit of desert song. The Arab stands in direct contrast to
ourselves of the north. He is not in the least like an English-
man. His mind travels by entirely different routes from

INTRODUCTION 5

ours, and his body is built up of much more inflammable
materials. His free desert air makes him impatient of con-
trol in a degree which we can scarcely understand in an or-
ganised community. It is difficult now to conceive a nation
without cabinets and secretaries of State and policemen, yet
to the Arab these things were not only unknown but incon-
ceivable. He lived the free aimless satisfied life of a child.
He was supremely content with the exquisite sense of simple
existence, and was happy because he lived. Throughout a
life that was full of energy, of passion, of strong endeavour
after his ideal of desert perfectness, there was yet a restful
sense of satisfied enjoyment, a feeling that life was of a
surety well worth living. What his ideal was, and how dif-
ferent from any of the ideals of today, we know from his

own poetry. It was not in the gentler virtues that he prided
himself :—

Had I been a son of Mazin, there had not plundered my
herds
the sons of the child of the dust, Dhuhl, son of Sheyban.
There had straightway arisen to help me a heavy-handed
kin,
good smiters when help is needed, though the feeble
bend to the blow:
Men who, when Evil bares before them his hindmost
teeth,
fly gaily to meet him in companies or alone.
They ask not their brother, when he lays before them his
wrong
in his trouble, to give them proof of the truth of what
he says.
But as for my peeple, though their number be not small,

they are good for naught against evil, however light
it be;

6 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

They requite with forgiveness the wrong of those that do
them wrong,
and the evil deeds of the evil they meet with kindness
and love !
As though thy Lord had created among the sons of men
themselves alone to fear him, and never one man
more.
Would that I had in their stead a folk who, when they
ride forth
strike swiftly and hard, on horse or on camel borne!

The ideal warrior, however, is not always so fierce as
this, as may be <een in the following lament for a departed
hero, where a gentler touch mingles in its warlike manli-
ness :—

But know ye if Abdallah be gone, and his place a void?
no weakling, unsure of hand, and no holder-back was
he !
Alert, keen his loins well girt, his leg to the middle bare,
unblemished and clean of limb, a climber to all things
high :
No wailer before ill-luck, one mindful in all he did,
to think how his work today would live in to-
morrow’s tale.
Content to bear hunger’s pain, though meat lay beneath
his hand,
to labour in ragged shirt that those whom he served
might rest.
If Dearth laid her hand on him, and Famine devoured his
store,
he gave but the gladlier what little to him they spared.
He dealt as a youth with Youth, until, when his head
grew hoar,

INTRODUCTION 7

and age gathered o’er his brow, to Lightness he said—
Begone !

The fierceness of the Arab warrior was tempered by
those virtues in which more civilised nations are found want-
ing. If he was swift to strike, the Arab was also prompt to
succour, ready to glve shelter and protection even to his
worst enemy. The hospitality of the Arab is a proverb, but
unlike many proverbs it is strictly true. The Jast milch-
camel must be killed rather than the duties of the host
neglected. The chief of aclan—not necessarily the richest
man in it, but the strongest and wisest—set the example in
all Arab virtues, and his tent was so placed in the camp that
it was the first the enemy would attack, add also the first
that the wayworn traveller would approach. Beaons were
lighted hard by to guide wanderers to the hospitable haven,
and any man, of whatever condition, who came to the Arab
nobleman’s tent and said, ‘‘I throw myself on your honour,”
was safe from pursuit even at the cost of his host’s life.
Honour, like hospitality, meant more than it does now: and
the Arab chieftain’s pledge of welcome meant protection,
unswerving fidelity, help, and succour. Like his pride of
birth, devotion to the clan, courage, and generosity, this
hospitable trusty friendship of the Arab belongs no doubt to -
the barbarous virtues of the old world; but it is just these
parts of barbarism which civilisation might profitably emu-
late.

As a friend and as an enemy there was no ambiguity
about the Arab, In both relations he was frank, generous
and fearless. And the same may be said of his love. The
Arab of the Days of Ignorance, as Muhammadans style the
time before the birth of their prophet, was the fore-runner
of the best side mediaeval chivalry, which indeed is forced
to own an Arabian origin. The Arab chief was as mucha
knight-errant in love as he was a chivalrous opponent in

8 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

fight. The position of the women of Arabia before the com-
ing of Muhammad has often been commiserated. That
women were probably held in low esteem in the town-life
which formed an important factor in the Arabian polity is
probably true; savage virtues are apt to disappear in the
civilised society of cities. But poetry is a good test ofa
nation’s character,—not, perhaps, ofa highly civilised nation,
for then affectation and the vogue come into play,—but un-
doubtedly of a partly savage nation, where poets only say
what they and their fellow men feel. Arabian poetry is full
of a chivalrous reverence for women. Allowing for difference
of language and the varieties of human nature, it is much
more reverent than a great deal of the poetry of our own
country today. Inthe old days, says an ancient writer, the
true Arab had but one love, and her he loved till death. The
Bedawy or Arab of the desert, though he was not above a
certain amount of gallantry of a romantic and exciting order,
regarded women as divinities to be worshipped, not as
chattels to possess. The poems are full of instances of the
courtly respect, ‘‘full of state and ancientry,’’ displayed by
the heroes of the desert towards defenceless maidens, and the
mere existence of so general an ideal of conduct in the poems
_is a strong argument for Arab chivalry ; for with the Arabs
the abyss between the ideal accepted of the mind and the
attaining thereof in action was narrower than it is among
more advanced nations. Weremember the story of Antar,
the Bayard of pagan Arabia, who gave his life to guard
some helpless women; and recall these verses of Muweylik,
which breathe a tender chivalrous regret for an only love:

Take thou thy way by the grave wherein thy dear one
lies—

Umm el-’Ala—and lift up thy voice: ah! if she could
hear !

INTRODUCTION 9

How art thou come, for very fearful wast thou, to dwell
in a land where not the most valiant goes but with
quaking heart ?
God’s love be thine and His mercy, O thou dear lost one
not meet for thee is the place of shadow and loneliness.
And alittle one hast thou left behind —-God’s ruth on her!
she knows not what to bewail thee means, yet weeps for
thee,
For she misses those sweet ways of thine which thou hadst
with her,
and the long night wails, and we strive to hush her to
sleep in vain.
When her crying smites in the night upon my sleepless
cars,
straightway mine eyes brimful are filled from the well of
tears.

If anywhere poetry is a gauge of national character, it
was so in Arabia, for nowhere was it more a part of the
national life. That line, “to think how his work today
would live in tomorrow’s tale,’ is atrue touch. The Arabs
were before all things a poetical people. It is not easy to
judge of this poetry in translation, even in the fine render-
ings which I have taken above from Mr. C.J. Lyall; Gut its
effect on the Arabs themselves was unmistakable. Damiri
has a saying, “‘Wisdom hath alighted on three things, the
brain of the Franks, the hands of the Chinese, and the tongue
of the Arabs,” and the last is not the least true. They had
an annual fair; the Academie francaise of Arabia, where the
poets of rival clans recited their masterpieces before immense
audiences, and received the summary criticism of the multi-
tude. This fair of Ukaz was a literary congress, without
formal judges, but with unbounded influence. It was here
that the polished heroes of the desert determined points of

10 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

grammar and prosody ; here the seven ‘“‘Golden Songs”’ were
sung, although (alas for the legend !) they were nor afterwards
suspended in the Ka‘ba ; and here ‘‘a magical language, the
language of the Hijaz,”’ was built out of the dialects of
Arabia and made ready to the skilful hand of Muhammad,
that he might conquer the world with his Qur’an.

Hitherto we have been looking at but one side of Arab
life. The Bedawis were indeed the bulk of the race and
furnished the swords of the Muslim conquests ; but there
was also a vigorous town-life in Arabia, and the citizens
waxed rich with the gains of their trafficking. For through
Arabia ran the trade-route between east and west: it was
the Arab traders who carried the produce of the Yemen to
the markets of Syria; and how ancient was their commerce
one may divine from the words of a poet of Judaea, spoken
more than a thousand years before the coming of Muham-
mad—

Wedan and Javan from San’a paid for they produce :
sword-blades, cassia, and calamus were in thy traffick-
ing.
Dedan was thy merchant in saddle-cloths for riding.
Arabia and all the merchants of Kedar, they were the mer-
chants of thy hand;
in lambs and rams and goats, in these were they thy mer-
chants.
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy mer-
chants ;
with the chief of all spices, and with every precious
stone, and gold, they paid for thy produce.
(EZEKIEL xxvii. 19-22).

Mekka was the centre of this trading life, the typical
Arab city of old times, a stirring little town, with its caravans

INTRODUCTION 11

bringing the silks and woven stuffs of Syria and the far-
famed Damask,and carrying away the sweet-smelling produce
of Arabia, frankincense, cinnamon, sandal-wood, also and
myrrh, and the dates and leather and metals of the south,
and the goods that came to the Yemen from Africa and even
India; its assemblies of merchant-princes in the Council Hall
near the Ka‘ba; and again its young poets running over
with love and gallantry ; its Greek and Persian slave-girls
brightening the luxurious banquet with their native songs,
when as yet there was no Arab school of music and the
monotonous but not unmelodious chant of the camel-driver
was the national sang of Arabia; and its club, where busy
men spent their idle hours in playing chess and draughts, or
in gossiping with their acquaintance. It was a little republic
of commerce, too much infected with the luxuries and-refine-
ments of the states it traded with, yet retaining enough of
the free Arab nature to redeem it from the charge of effemi-
nacy. Mekka was a home of music and poetry, and this
characteristic lasted into Muslim times. There is a story of
a certain stonemason who had a wonderful gift of singing.
When he was at work the young men used to come and im-
protune him, and bring him gifts of money and food to in-
duce him to sing. He would then make a stipulation that
they should first help him with his work. And forthwith
they would strip off their cloaks, and the stanes would
gather round him rapidly. Then he would mount a rock
and sing, whilst the whole hill was coloured red and yellow
with the variegated garments of his audience. It was, how-
ever, in this town-life that the worst qualities of the Arab
came out; it was here that his raging passion for dicing
and his thirst for wine were most prominent. In the desert
there was no great opportunity for indulging in either
luxury, but in a town which often welcomed a caravan bring-
ing goods to the value of twenty thousand pound such ex-

12 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

cesses were to be looked for. Excited by the songs of the
Greek slave-girls, and the fumes of mellow wine, the Mekkan
would throw the dice till, like the German of Tacitus, he had’
staked and lost his own liberty.

But Mekka was more than a centre of trade and of song.
It was the focus of the religion of the Arab. Thither the
tribes went up every year to kiss the black stone which had
fallen from heaven in the primeval days of Adam, and to
make the seven circuits of the Ka‘ba, naked,—for they
would not approach God in the garments in which they had
done their sins,—and to perform the other ceremonies of the
pilgrimage. The Ka‘ba, a cubical building in the center of
Mekka, was the most sacred temple in all Arabia, and it
gave its sanctity to all the district around. It was built,
saith tradition, by Adam from a heavenly model, and then
rebuilt from time to time by Seth and Abraham and Ishmael,
and less reverend persons, and it contained the sacred things
of the land. Here was the black stone, here the great god
of red agate, and the three hundred and sixty idols, one for
each day of the year, which Muhammad afterwards destroy-
ed in one day. Here was Abraham’s stone, and that other
which marked the tomb of Ishmael, and hard by was Zem-
zem, the God-sent spring which gushed from the sand when
the forefather of the Arabs was perishing of thirst.

The religion of the ancient Arabs, little as we know of
it, is especially interesting inasmuch as the Arabs longest re-
tained the original Semitic character, and hence probably
the original Semitic religion ; and thus in the ancient cult of
Arabia we may see the religion once professed by Chaldeans,
Canaanites, Israelites, and Phoenicians. This ancient religion
“rises little higher than animistic polydaemonism; it is a
collection of tribal religions standing side by side, only
loosely united, though there are traces of a once closer con-
nection.” The great objects of worship were the sun, and

INTRODUCTION 13

the stars, and the three moon-goddesses,—El-Lat, the bright
moon, Menah, the dark, and El-‘Uzza, the union of the two
—whilst a lower cultus of trees, stones and mountains shows
that the religion had not quite risen above simple fetishism.
There are traces of a belief in a supreme God behind this
pantheon, and the moon-goddesses and other divinities were
regarded as daughters of the Most High God (Allah ta‘ala).
The various deities (but not the supreme Allah) had their
fanes where human sacrifices, though rare, were not un-
known; and their cult was superintended by a hereditary
line of seers, who were held in great reverence, but never de-
veloped into a priestly caste.

Besides the tribal gods, individual households had their
special penates, to whom was due the first and the last salam
of the returning or outgoing master. But in spite of all this
superstitious apparatus the Arabs were never a religious
people. In the old days, as now, they were reckless, scepti-
cal, materialistic. They had their gods and their divining
arrows, but they were ready to demolish both if the responses
proved contrary to their wishes. An Arab, who wished to
avenge the death of his father, went to consult the square
block of white stone called El-Khalasa, by means of divining
arrows. Three times he tried, and each time he drew the
arrow forbidding vengeance. Then he broke the arrows,
and flung them in the face of the idol, crying, ‘‘Wretch ! if it
had been your father who was murdered, you would not have
forbidden me to avenge him !’’ The great majority believed
in no future life, nor in a reckoning day of good and evil.
If a few tied camels to the graves of the dead that the corpse
might ride mounted to the judgment-seat, they must have
done so more by force of superstitious habit than anything
else.

Christianity and Judaism had made but small impress
upon the Arabs. There were Jewish tribes in the north, and

14 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

there is evidence in the Qur’an and elsewhere that the tradi-
tions and rites of Judaism were widely known in Arabia.
But the creed was too narrow and too exclusively national
to commend itself to the majority of the people. Christianity
fared even worse. Whether or not St. Paul went there, it is
at least certain that very little effect was produced by the
preaching of Christianity in Arabia. We hear of Christians
on the borders, and even two or three among the Mekkans,
and bishops and churches are spoken of at Dhafar and
Najran’ But the Christianity that the Arabs knew was, like
the Judaism of the northern tribes, a very imperfect reftec-
tion of the faith it professed to be. It had become a thing
of the head instead of the heart, and the refinements of
monophysite and monothelite doctrines gained no hold on
the Arab mind.

Thus Judaism and Christianity, though they were well
known, and furnished many of the ideas and most of the
ceremonies of Islam, were never able to effect any general
settlement in Arabia. The common Arabs did not care much
about any religion, and the finer spirits found the wrangling
dogmatism of the Christian and the narrow isolation of the
Jew little to their mind. For there were men before the time
of Muhammad who were dissatisfied with the low fetishism
in which their countrymen were plunged, and who protested
emphatically against the idle and often cruel superstitions of
the Arabs. Not to refer to the prophets, who, as the Qur’an
relates, were sent in old times to the tribes of ‘Ad and
Thamid to convert them, there was, immediately before the
preaching of Muhammad, a general feeling that a change was
at hand ; a prophet was expected, and women were anxious-
ly hoping for male children, if so be they might mother the
Apostle of God; and more thoughtful minds, tinged with
traditions of Judaism, were Seeking for what they called the
“religion of Abraham.’ These men were called ‘‘Hanifs,”’

INTRODUCTION 15

or “‘incliners,”’ and their religion seems to have consisted
chiefly in a negative pasition,—in denying the superstition
of the Arabs, and in only asserting the existence of one sole-
ruling God whose absolute slaves are all mankind —without
being able to decide on any minor doctrines, or to determine
in what manner this One God was to be worshipped. So
long as the Hanifs could give their countrymen no more de-
finite creed than this, their influence was limited to a few in-
quiring and doubting minds. It was reserved for Muham-
mad to formulate the faith of the Hunifs in the dogmas of
Islam.

It is essential to bear in mind all these surroundings of
Muhammad if we would understand his position and in-
fluence. A desert Arab in love of liberty and worship of
nature’s beauty, but lacking something of the frank chival-
rous spirit of the desert warrior—more a saint than a
knight,—yet possessing a patient determined perseverance
which belonged to the life of the town, a moral force which
the roaming Bedawy did not need, Muhammad owed some-.
thing to either side of Arabian life ; whilst without the in-
fluence of other religions, especially the Jewish, he could
never have com2 forward as the preacher of Islam. Even
the old nature worship of the Arabs had its share in the new
religion, and no faith was made up of more varied materials
than that which Muhammad impressed upon so large a por-.
tion of mankind.

Of his early life very little is known. He was born in
A.D. 571, and came of the noble tribe of the Quraish, who
had long been guardians of the sacred Ka‘ba. He lost both
his parents early, and as his branches of the tribe had be-
come poor, his duty was to betake himself to the hillsides
and pasture the flocks of his neighbours. In after years he
would look back with pleasure on these days, and say that
God took never a prophet save from among the sheep folds.

16 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

The life on the hills gave him the true shepherd’s eye for
nature which is seen in every speech of the Qur’an ; and it
was in those solitary watches under the silent sky, with none
near to distract him, that he began those earnest commun-
ings with his soul which made him in the end the prophet of
his nation. Beyond this shepherd life and his later and more
adventurous trade of camel-driver to the Sayrian caravans of
his rich cousin, Khadija, whom he presently married at the
age of twenty-five, there is little that can be positively asser-
ted of Muhammad’s youth. He must have witnessed the
poet’s contests at the Fair of Ukaz, and listened to the
earnest talk of the Jews and Hanifs who visited the markets;
he may have heard a little, dimly, of Jesus of Nazareth ;
wkat he did we know not ; what he was is expressed in the
nickname by which he was known—“‘El-Amin,”’ the Trusty.

‘“Muhammad was of the middle height, rather thin, but
proad of shoulders, wide‘of chest, strong of bone and muscle.
His head was massive, strongly developed. Dark hair, slight-
ly curled, flowed in a dense mass almost to his shoulders ;
even in advanced age it was sprinkled with only about twenty
gray hairs, produced by the agonies of his ‘Revelations.’
His face was oval-shaped, slightly tawny of colour. Fine
long arched eyebrows were divided by a vein, which throbbed
visibly in moments of passion. Great black restless eyes
shone out from under long heavy eyelashes. His nose was
large, slightly aquiline, His teeth, upon which he bestowed
great care, were well set, dazzling white. A full bread fram-
ed his manly face. His skin was clear and soft, his com-
plexion ‘red and white,’ his hands were as ‘silk and satin,’
even as those of a woman. His step was quick and elastic,
yet firm as that of one who steps ‘from a high to a low
place.’ In turning his face he would also turn his whole
body. His whole gait and presence were dignified and im-
posing. His countenance was mild and pensive. His laugh

INTRODUCTION: = | 17

‘was rareiy more ‘than a smile. page =

“In his habits.he was extremely simple, though he bes-
‘towed great care on his person. His eating and drinking,
his dress and his furniture retained, even when he had reach-
ed the fulness of power, their almost primitive nature. The
only luxuries he indulged in were, besides arms, which he
highly prized, a pair of yellow boots, a present from the
Negus:of Abyssinia. Perfumes, however, he loved passiona-
‘tely, being most sensitive to smells. Strong drink he abhor-
‘red.

“His constitution was extremely delicate. He was gifted
with mighty powers of imagination, elevation of mind and
refinement of feeling. ‘He is more modest thana virgin be-
hind her curtain,’ it was said’ of him. He was most indul-
gent to his inferiors, and would never allow his awkward
little page to be scolded whatever he did. ‘Ten years,’ said’
Anas his servant, ‘was I about the Prophet, and he never said
as much as “uff? to me.’ He was very affectionate towards
his family. One of his boys died on his breast in the smoky:
house of the nurse, a blacksmith’s wife. He was very fond
of children ; hs would stop them in the streets and pat their
little heads. He never struck any one in his life. The worst
expression he ever made use of in conversation was, ‘What
has come to him ? may his forehead be darkened with mud!’
When asked to curse some one, he replied, ‘I have not been
sent to curse, but to be a mercy to mankind.’ He visited
the sick, followed any bier he met, accepted the invitation of
a slave to dinner, mended his own clothes, milked the goats,
and waited upon himself,’ relates summarily another tradi-
tion. He never first withdrew his hand out of another man’s
palm, and turned not before the other had turned.

‘‘He was the most faithful protector of those he pro-
tected, the sweetest and most agreeable in conversation.

Those who saw him were suddenly filled with reverence;
2

18 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

those who came near him loved him; they who described
him would say, ‘I have never seen his like either before or
after.’ He was of great taciturnity, but when he spoke it
was with emphasis and deliberation, and no one could forget
what he said. He was, however, very nervous and restless
withal ; often low-spirited, downcast as to heart and eyes.
Yet he would at times suddenly break through those brood-
ings, become gay, talkative, jocular, chiefly among his own.
He would then delight in telling little stories, fairly tales,
and the like. He would romp with the children and play
with their toys.”

“Be lived with his wives in a row of humble cottages,
separated from one another by palm-branches, cemented to-
gether with mud. He would kindle the fire, sweep the floor,
and milk the goats himself. The little food he had was
always shared with those who dropped in to partake of it.
Indeed, outside the prophet’s house was a bench or gallery,
on which were always to be found a number of poor, who
lived entirely upon his generosity, and were hence called ‘the
people of the bench.’ His ordinary food was dates and
water, or barley bread; milk and honey were luxuries of
which he was fond, but which he rarely allowed himself.
The fare of the desert seemed most congenial to him, even
when he was sovereign of Arabia.”

Muhammad was forty before he began his mission of
reform. He may long have doubted and questioned with
himself, but at least outwardly he seems to have conformed
to the popular religion. At length, as he was keeping the
sacred months, the God’s Truce of the Arabs, in prayer and
fasting on Mount Hira, ‘“‘a huge barren rock, torn by cleft
and hollow ravine, standing out solitary ia the full white
glare of the desert sun,’ he thought he heard a voice say
“Cry.” “What shall I cry ?’”’ he answered. And the voice

INTRODUCTION 19

said :
‘“‘Cry ! in the name of thy Lord, who created—
Created man from blood.
Cry ! for thy Lord is the Bountifullest !
Who taught the pen,
Taught man what he did not know.”’
Qur’an, ch. xcvi.

At first he was afraid. But yet again he heard the voice—
“Thou art the Messenger of God, and I am Gabriel.’”’ He
went back to Khadija, worn, out in body and mind. ‘“‘Wrap
me, wrap me,” he cried. And then the word came to him:

**O thou who art wrapped, rise up and warn !

And thy Lord magnify,

And thy raiment purify,

And abomination shun !

And grant not favours to gain increase !

And wait for thy Lord !”’ —Qur’an, ch. Ixxiv.

These are the first two revelations that came to Muhammad.
That he believed he heard them spoken by an angel from
heaven is beyond doubt.

After this beginning of cnnverse with the supernatural,
or whatever we prefer to term it, the course of Muhammad’s
revelations—the speeches which make up the Qur’d4n—flowed
unbroken for twenty years and more. They fall naturally
into two great divisions—the reriod of struggle at Mekka,
and the period of triumph at Medina; and the characteris-
tics of the two are diverse as the circumstances which called
them forth. For whatever Muhammad himself thought of
his revelations, to modern criticism they are speeches or
sermons strictly connected with the religious and political

20 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

circumstances of the speaker’s time. In the first period we
see a man possessed of a strong religious idea, an idea domi-
nating his life, and his one aim is to impress that idea on
his people, the inhabitants of Mekka. He preached to them
in season and out of season ; whenever the spirit moved him
he poured forth his burning eloquence into the ears of a
suspicious and incredulous audience. Three years of un-
wearied effort produced the pitiful result of a score or so of
converts, mainly from the poorest classes. Inthe fifth year
even these were compelled by the persecutions of the Quraish
to take refuge in Abyssinia—‘‘a land of righteousness,
wherein no man is wronged.” Muhammad had by this time
advanced from a mere inculcation of the doctrine of one all-
powerful God to a plain attack upon the idolatry of the
Mekkans ; and the Quraish, as guardians of the Ka’ba and
receivers of the pilgrims’ tolls, were keenly alive to the con-
sequences which the overthrow of the sacred temple would
entail upon its keepers. The result of Muhammad’s bold
denunciations was a cruel persecution of his humbler fol-
lowers, and their consequent flight to Abyssinia ; he himself
was too nearly allied to powerful chiefs to be lightly injured
in a land were the blood-revenge held sway. Presently the
devotion of the prophet, his manly bearing under obloquy
and reproach, and above all, the winged words of his elo-
quence, brought several men of influence and wealth into his
faith, and in the sixth year of his mission Muhammad found
himself surrounded no longer by a crowd of slaves and beg-
gars, but by tried swordsmen, chiefs of great families,
leaders in the councils of Mekka ; and the new sect perform-
ed their rites no more in secret, but publicly at the Ka‘ba, in
the face of the whole city. The Quraish'resolved on stronger
measures. After trying vainly to isolate him from his family
—the true Arab spirit of kindred was not so easily shaken—
they put the whole clan under a ban, and swore they would

INTRODUCTION ; 21

not marry with them, not buy nor sell with them, nor hold
with them any intercourse soever. To the credit of Muham-
mad and of his clan, only one man of them refused to share
his fate, though most of them did not hold with his doc-
trines. Sooner than give up their kinsman, thy went, every
man of them, save that one, into their own quarter of the
city, and there abode in banishment for two years. Starva-
tion was busy with the incarcerated family, when the Quraish
grew ashamed of their work, and five chiefs arose and put
on their armour and went to the ravine where the banished
people were shut up, and bade them come forth.

The time of inaction was followed by a time of sorrow.
Muhammad lost his wife and the aged chief, his uncle, who
had hitherto been his protector. All Mekka was against
him, and in despair of heart he journeved to Taif, seventy
miles away, and told his message to another folk: but they
stoned him for three miles from the town. The time, how-
ever, was coming when a distant city would hold out wel-
coming hands to the Prophet whom Mekka and Ta’if had
rejected. As he dwelt-on disconsolately at Mekka, pilgrims
from Yethrib (soon to be known as Medina or Medinet-en-
Naby, ‘‘the Prophet’s City’) hearkened to the new doctrine,
and carried it home to their own folk. Jews had prepared
the way for Islam at Medina; the new religion did not
seem preposterous to those who had long heard of One God;
and presently the Faithful began to leave Mekka in small
companies, and take refuge in the hospitable city where their
Prophet was honoured. At length Muhammad, when like
the captain ofa sinking ship he had seen his followers safely
away, accompanied by one faithful friend eluded the vigilance
of the Quraish, and safely arrived at Medina in the early
summer of 622. This is the Hijra or ‘‘Flight” of Muhammad,
from which the Muslims date their history.

During these years of struggle and presecution at Mekka

a2" TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

90 out of the 114 chapters which compose the Qur’an were
revealed, amounting to about two-thirds of the whole book.
All these speeches are inspired with but one great design,
and are i strong contrast with the complicated character of
the later chapters issued at Medina. In the Mekka chapters
Muhammad appears in the unalloyed character of a Prophet:
he has not yet assumed the functions of a statesman and
lawgiver. His object is not to give men a code or a consti-
tution, but to call them to the worship of the One God.
There is hardly a word of other doctrines, scarcely anything
of ritual, or social or penal regulations. Every speech is
directed simply to the grand design of the Prophet’s life to
convince men of the unutterable majesty of the One God,
who brooks no rivals. Muhammad appeals to the people
to credit the evidence of their own eyes ; he calls to witness
the wonders of nature, the stars in their courses, the sun and
the moon, the dawn cleaving asunder the dark veil of night,
the life-giving rain, the fruits of the earth, life and death,
change and decay—all are ‘‘signs of God’s power, if only ye
would understand.’ Or he tells the people how it fared with
older generations, when Prophets came to them and exhorted
them to believe in One God any do righteousness, and they
rejected them; how there fell upon the unbelieving nation
grievous woe. How was it with the people of Noah? he
asks :—they were drowned in the flood because they would
not hearken to his words. And the people of the Cities of
the Plain? And Pharaoh and his host? And the old tribes
of the Arabs who would not hear the warnings of their
Prophets ? One answer follows each—there came upon them
a great calamity. ‘‘These are the true stories,”’ he cries,
‘‘and there is only One God! and yet ye turn aside.’’ Elo-
quent appeals to the signs of nature, threats of a day of
reckoning to come, warnings drawn from the legends of the
Prophets, arguments for the truth and reality of the revela-

INTRODUCTION 23

tion, make up the substance of this first division of the
Qur’an.

In the earliest group of speeches delivered at Mekka,
forty-eight in number, belonging to what is called the First
Period, extending over the first four years of Muhammad’s
mission, we feel the poetry of the man. Muhammad had
not lived among the sheep-folds in vain, and spent long
solitary nights gazing at the silent heaven and watching the
dawn break over the mountains. This earliest portion of the
Qur’dn is one long blazonry of nature’s beauty. How can
you believe in aught but the One omnipotent God when you
see this glorious world around you and this wondrous tent
of heaven above you? Is Muhammad’s frequent question
to his countrymen. ‘‘All things in heaven and earth suppli-
cate Him; then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye
deny?” There is little but this appeal to nature in the first
part of the speeches at Mekka. The Prophet was in too
exalted a state during these early years to stoop to argument;
he rather seeks to dazzle the sense with brilliant images of
God’s working in creation. ‘‘Verily in the creation of the
heavens and the earth are signs to you, if ye would under-
stand.’’ His sentences have a rhythmical ring though they
are not in true metre. The lines are very short, yet with a
musical cadence. The meaning is often but half expressed.
The poet seems impatiently to stop as if he despaired of ex-
plaining himself: he has essayed a thing beyond words, has
discovered the impotence of language, and broken off with
the sentence unfinished. The style is throughout fiery and
impassioned. The words are those of a man whose whole
heart is bent on convincing, and they carry with them even
now the impression of the burning vehemence with which
they were originally hurled forth. These earliest speeches
are generally brief. They are pitched too high to be long
sustained. We feel we have here to do with a poet as well

24 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

as a preacher, and that his poetry costs him too much to be
spun out. |

In urging to repentance and faith, Muhammad’s great
weapon is the judgment to come—the day of retribution,
‘when all mankind shall be arraigned before the throne of
God ; and those who have done good shall be given the book
of the record of their actions in their right hand, and enjoy
‘abiding happiness in gardens, under which the rivers flow;
whilst the wicked shall receive his damning record in his
left hand, and be dragged by heel and hair to hell, to broil
therein for ever. The day of judgment is a stern reality to
Muhammad. It is never out of his thoughts, and he says
himself that if men realised what that day was, they would
weep much and laugh little. He is never tired of depicting
its terrors, and cannot find names enough to describe it. He
calls it the Hour, the Mighty Day, the great Calamity, the
Inevitable Fact, the Smiting, the Overwhelming, the Hard
Day, the Promised Day, the Day of Decision.

The high poetic fervour of the first group of Mekka
‘speeches is to some extent lost in the Second, and still more in
the Third period, corresponding to the fifth and sixth years,
‘and from thence to the Hijra, respectively, and each com-
prising twenty-one speeches. The change is partly one of
style, partly of matter. The verses and the speeches them-
selves become longer and more rambling; the resonant
oaths by all the wonders of nature are exchanged for the
mild asseveration, ‘“‘By the Qur'an’. There is! more self-
assertion and formality, and the special words of God are
as it were italicised by the prefixed verb, “‘Say’’. It must
be remembered that the speeches of the Qur’dn are all sup-
posed to bé the utterances of God in propria persona, of
whom Muhammad is only the mouthpiece. The apparent
vindications and laudations of the Prophet himself are ex-
plicable from this point of view; and the reader must never

“INTRODUCTION: O35

forget it when he is perplexed by the ‘“‘we” -(God), and
thou’? (Muhammad), and “tye” (the audience) of the Qur'an.
The most important alteration to be observed in the progress
of the orations at Mekka is the introduction of numerous
stories derived, with considerable corruptions, from the
Jewish Haggadah. More than fifteen hundred verses, nearly
a quarter of the Qur'an, are occupied with wearisome repeti-
tions of these legends. They are to be seen methodically
arranged in Lane's Selections from the Qur’an, and I need
only say that, with the exception of one or two typical
examples (like the speech called The Moon), and a few
digressions in speeches (like The Children of Israeli, that
were too important to be omitted, these tales are excluded
from the present collection. Their only real interest in
Muhammad’s use of them as evidence of the continuity
of revelation. He believed that all preceding prophets
were inspired of God, and that they taught the same
faith as himself. From Adam to Jesus they all brought
their messages to their people, and were rejected. He makes
them exhort their people in precisely similar words to those
with which he exhorts the Quraish. There is nothing new in
his own doctrine, he says, itis but the teaching of Abraham,
of Moses, of Christ, of all the prophets. But it is the last
and best, the seal of prophecy, after which no other will be
given before the Great Day. It supersedes or confirms all
that goes before.

Quite half of the second group of Mekka speeches
consists of these Jewish legends. There are not so many in
the third, and none inthe first. But ifthe Third does not
contain quite so many of those tedious fables, it is even
tamer in style. Muhammad seems to be cataloguing the
signs of nature mechanically, and he is constantly recuring
to the change of forgery which was often brought against
him, or to the demand for miracles, which he always frankly

26 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

admitted he could not gratify. I am only a warner, he said ;
I cannot show you a sign—a miracle—except what ye see
every day and night. Signs are with God: He who could
make the heavens could easily show you a sign if He pleased;
beware, lest one day ye see a sign indeed, and taste in hell
that which ye called a lie! That the old eloquence, in spite
of repetition and wearing trouble, was not dead, may be
seen from the speech called Thunder where the nature paint-
ing is as fine as anywhere in Qur'an.

The first great division of Muhammad’s speeches then,
is oratorical rather then dogmatic. He has a great dogma,
indeed, and uses every resource to recommend it. But there
is little detail in these ninety Mekka speeches. Hardly any
definite laws of precepts are to be found in them, and
most of these in the’speech entitied The Children of Israel.
Certain general rules of prayer are given, hospitality and
thrift are commended in a breath, ‘‘Let not thy hand be
chained to thy neck, nor yet stretch it out right open ;”’ in-
fanticide, inchastity, homicide (save in blood-revenge), the
robbing of orphans, a false balance, usury, a broken cove-
nant, and a proud stomach, are denounced ; certain foods
are prohibited; and the whole duty of man is thus briefly
summed up :—‘‘Say : I am only a man like you: I am inspir-
ed that your God is but One God. Then let him who hopeth
to meet his Lord do righteousness, and join no (idol) in his
worship of God.”

There is little here of a complicated ritual or a meta-
physical theology. Thus far the social and religious laws
which we associate with Islam are not found in the Muham-
madan Bible. We hear only the voice crying in*the wilder-
ness, ‘‘Hear ye, people! The Lord your God is one Lord.”’

Muhammad’s position at Medina was totally different
from that he occupied at Mekka. Instead of a struggling
reformer, despised and ridiculed by almost every man he

INTRODUCTION 27

met, he was a king, ruling a large city with despotic power,
_and needing every resource of statecraft to maintain order
_among its contentions elements. There was a large party,
known in the Qur’an as the ‘‘Disaffected”’ or ‘‘Hypocrites,”’
who found it politic to profess Islam, but were ready to
-avail themselves of any propitious occasion to overturn or
injure it. Stijl more important were the Jewish Arab tribes
settled at Medina, who at first hoped to find a tool to their
hands in the new Prophet, who seemed to teach something
very like Judaism; but who, when they found him unmanage-
able, straightway turned upon him with double malignity,
-and exerted themselves in all traecherous ways to counter-
mine his authority and help his enemies within and without
the city. Muhammad has been blamed for the severity with
which he suppressed the rebellious parties in his state, and
the sentences of exile and death passed upon the Jews have
been regarded as proofs of a vindictive nature. An impartial
study of the facts of the case, however, shows plainly that
strong measures were needed for the preservation of the
Muslim religion and polity ; and the vigorous blows struck
by Muhammad at rebellion in the beginning probably saved
bloodshed afterwards. Whilst the Prophet’s supremacy was
being established and maintained among the mixed popula-
tion of Medina, a vigorous warfare was carried on outside
with his old persecutors, the Quraish. On the history of
this war, consisting as it did mainly of small raids and
attacks upon caravans, I need not dwell. Its leading features
were the two battles of Badr and Ohud, inthe first of which
three hundred Muslims, though outnumbered at the odds of
three to one, were completely victorious (A.D. 624, A.H. 2);
whilst at Ohud, being outnumbered in the like proportion,
and deserted by the ‘‘Disaffected’’ party, they were almost
as decisively defeated (A.H. 3). Two years later the Quraish
gathered together their allies, advanced upon Medina, and

98 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

besieged it for fifteen days - but the foresight of Muhammad
“in digging a trench, and the enthusiasm of the Muslims in
defending it, resisted all assaults, and the coming of the
heavy storms for which the climate of Medina is noted drove
‘the enemy back to Mekka. The next year (A-H. 6) a ten
years’ truce (see The Victory, and notes) was concluded
with the Quraish, pursuance of which a strange scene
“took place in the following spring. It was agreed that
-Muhammad and his people should perform the Lesser Pil-
-grimage, and that the Quraish should for that purpose vacate
-Mekka for three days. Accordingly in March 629, about
-two thousand Muslims, with Muhammad at their head on
his famous camel, El-Qaswi,—the camel on which he had
fled from Mekka,—trooped down the valley and performed
the rites which every Muslim to this day observes.

“Tt was surely a strange sight which at this time pre-
sented itself in the vale of Mekka, a sight unique in the
history of the world. The ancient city is for three days
evacuated by all its inhabitants, high and low, every house
deserted ; and as they retire, the exiled converts, many years
banished from their birthplace, approach in a great body,
accompanied by their allies, revisit the empty homes of their
-childhood, and within the short allotted space fulfil the rites
of pilgrimage. The ousted inhabitants, climbing the heights
around, take refuge under tents or other shelter among the
hills and glens ; and clustering on the overhanging peak of
Abu-Kubeys, thence watch the movements of the} visitors
beneath them, as with the Prophet at their head they make
the circuit of the Ka’ba and the rapid procession between
Es-Safa and Marwa; and anxiously scan every figure if
perchance they may recognise among the worshippers some
long lost friend or relative. It was a scene rendered possible
only by the throes which gave birth to Islam.’’ When the
three days were over, Muhammad and his party peaceably

INTRODUCTION, ... -, . - 29

returned of Medina, and. the Mekkans re-entered their
homes. But this pilgrimage, and the self-restraint of the
Muslims therein, advanced the cause of Islam among its
enemies. Converts increase daily, and some leading men
of the Quraish went overto Muhammad. The clans around
were sending-in deputations of homage. But the final key-
stone was set in the 8th year of the flight (A.D. 630), when
a body of Quraish broke the truce by attacking an ally of the
Muslims, and Muhammad forthwith marched upon Mekka
with ten thousand men, and the city, despairing of defence,
surrendered. The day of Muhammad’s greatest triumph over
his enemies was also the day of his grandest vicitory over
himself. He freely forgave the Quraish all the years of sorrow
and cruel scorn-in: which they had afflicted him, and gave
an amnesty to the whole population of Mekka. Four crimi-
nals whom justice condemned made up Mohammad’s
proscription list when he entered as a conqueror to the city
of his bitterest enemies. The army followed his example,
and entered quietly ; and peaceably no house was robbed,
no women insulted. One thing alone suffered destruction.
Going to the Ka‘ba, Muhammad stood before each of the
three hundred and sixty idols, and pointed to it with his
staff, saying. ‘‘Truth is come, and falsehood is fled away !”’
and at these words his attendants hewed them down, and all
the idols and household gods of Mekka and round about
were destroyed.

It was thus that Muhammad entered again his-native
city. Through all the annals of conquest there is no trium-
phant entry comparable to this one.

The taking of Mekka was soon followed by the adhesion

of all Arabia. Every reader knows the story of the spread
ofIslam. The tribes of every part of the peninsula sent em-
bassies to do homage to the Prophet. Arabia was not
enough : Muhammad had written in his bold uncompromis-

30 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

ing way to the great kings of the East—to the Persian.
Chosroes and the Greek Emperor ; and these little knew how
soon his invitation to the faith would be repeated, and how
quickly Islam would be knocking at their doors with no.
faltering hand.

The Prophet’s career was near its end. In the tenth
year of the flight, twenty-three years after he had first felt
the spirit move him to preach to his people, he resoived once
more to leave his adopted city and go to Mekka to perform
a farewell pilgrimage. And when the rites were done in the
valley of Mina, the Prophet spake unto the multitude—the
forty thousand pilgrims—with solemn last words :

Ye people, hearken to my words: for I know not
whether after this year I shall ever be amongst
you here again.

Your lives and your property are sacred and inviol-
able amongst one another until the end of time.

The Lord hath ordained to every man the share of his
inheritance ; a testament is not lawful to the pre-
judice of heirs.

The child belongeth to the parent, and the violater of
wedlock shall be stoned.

Ye people, ye have rights demandable of your wives,
and they have rights demandable of you. Treat
your women well.

And your slaves, see that ye feed them with such food
as ye eat yourselves, and clothe them with the
stuff ye wear. And if they commit a fault which
ye are not willing to forgive, then sell them, for
they are the servants of the Lord and are not to
be tormented.

Ye people! hearken unto my speech and comprehend
it. Know that every Muslim is the brother of

INTRODUCTION | 3f

every other Muslim. And of you are on the same
equality : ye are one brotherhood.

Then looking up to heaven he cried, ‘“‘O Lord, I have
delivered my message and fulfilled my mission.”’ And all the
multitude answered, ‘‘Yea, verily hast thou !’’—‘‘O Lord, I
beseech thee, bear Thou witness to it !”’ and, like Moses, he
lifted up his hands and blessed the people. Three months
more and Muhammad was dead,—a.H. 11, A.D. 632.

And when it was noised abroad that the Prophet was
dead, ‘Omar, the fiery-hearted, the Simon Peter of Islam,
rushed among the people and fiercely told them they lied ; it
could not be true. And Abu-Bakr came and said, ‘‘Ye
people ! he that hath worshipped Muhammad, let him know
that Muhammad is dead ; but he that hath worshipped God,
that the Lord liveth and doth not die.”’

The altered circumstances of Muhammad’s life at
Medina produced a corresponding change in his speeches.
They are now not so much exhortations to unbelievers as
directions and encouragements to the faithful; and instead
of being one complete oration, as most of the early speeches
are, they are a collection of isolated “‘rulings’’ on various
points of conduct. The prophet’s house at Medina became
a court of appeal for the whole body of Muslims. They
came to him with all their difficulties,—domestic, social,
political, religious,—and asked for direction. Then Muham-
mad said in few words what he thought right and just; and
these decisions have been treated as laws building upon the
Muhammadan world for all time. It is fortunate that
Muhammad was a man of sound common sense, or the law
of Islam would be a preposterous medley. As itis, it seems
clear that the prophet never wished to lay down a code of
law, and, instead of volunteering rules of conduct and ritual,
used to wait to have them extorted from him by questioning,

32 TABLE-TALK. OF MUHAMMAD

‘‘God wishes to make things easy for you,’ he says, ‘“‘for
man was created weak.’’ He seems to have distrusted him-
self as a lawgiver, for there is a tradition which relates a
speech of his in which he cautions the people against taking
his decision on worldly affairs as infallible. When he speaks
of the things of God he is to be obeyed ; but when he deals
with human affairs he is only a man like those about him.
He was contented to leave the ordinary Arab customs in
force except when they were manifestly unjust. The truth
is that, as in the Mekka speeches so in those of Medina, the
legal and dogmatic element is curiously small. The greater
part of those long chapters uttered in fragments at Medina,
and then arranged together at his direction by the Prophet’s
amanuenses, consists of diatribes against the Jews and hypo-
crites, reflections on the conduct of the allies in battle, en-
couragement aftar defeat, exhortations as to the future, be-
sides a great of personal matter—regulations of the
prophet’s harem, vindications of his own or his wives’ con-
duct,—and similar things of a temporary and local interest.
Though the style is monotonous and longwinded, like the
third Mekka period, there are still flashes of the old
eloquence, though perhaps it is less spontaneous than of old,
such as we hear in the chapter of Light—

God is the light of the heavens and the earth; his
light is as a niche in which is a lamp, and the
lamp in a glass; the glass is as it were a glitter-
ing star: it is lit from a blessed tree, on olive
neither of the east nor of the west, the oil there-
of would wellnigh shine though no fire touched
it—light upon light—God guideth to His light
whom He pleaseth.

In the houses God hath suffered to be raised, for His
name to be commemorated therein, men magnify

INTRODUCTION 33

Him at morn and eve:

Men whom neither merchandise nor trafficking divert
from remembering God and being instant in
prayer and giving alms, fearing a day when
hearts and eyes shall-quiver ;

That God may recompense them for the best that
they have wrought, and give them increase of His
grace ; for God maketh provision for whom He
pleaseth without count.

But those who disbelieve are like a vapour in a plain :
the thirsty thinketh it water, till, when he cometh
to it, he findeth nothing; but he findeth God
with him ; and He will settle his account, for God
is quick at reckoning :—

Or like black night on a deep sea, which wave above
wave doth cover, and cloud over wave, gloom
upon gloom,—when one putteth out his hand he
can scarcely see it; for to whom God giveth not
light, he hath no light.

Hast thou not seen that what is in the heavens and
the earth magnifieth God, and the birds on the
wing ? each one knoweth its prayer and its praise,
and God knoweth what they do:

God’s is the empire of the heavens and the earth, and
to Him must all things return !

Hast thou not seen that God driveth the clouds, and
then joineth them, and then heapeth them up,
and thou mayest see the rain coming forth from
their midst; and He sendeth down from the
heaven mountain-clouds with hail therein, and
He maketh it fall on whom He pleaseth, and He
turneth it away from whom He pleaseth: the
flashing of His lightning well nigh consumeth the
eyes !—xxiv. 35—43.

34 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

The actual legal residue in the Medina chapters is
singularly small. Chapters ii., iv. and v., contain nearly all
the law of the Qur’dn ; but it must be allowed they are very
long chapters, and form nearly a tenth part of it. Their
practical import,—the definite ruling of Muhammad on dog-
matic, ritual, civil, and criminal matters need not be repeated
here. The conclusion, however, is worth pointing clearly.
The Qur'an does not contain, even in outline, the eiaborate
ritual and complicated law which now passes under the name
of Islam. It contains merely those decisions which happened
to be called for at Medina. Muhammad himself knew that
it did not provide for every emergency, and recommended
a principle of analogical deduction to guide his followers
when they were in doubt. This analogical deduction has
been the ruin of Islam.

There is, however, another source of information about
Muhammad’s teaching and practice which is largely respon-
sible for the present form of the once simple creed of Mekka.
Besides the public speeches which were held to be directly
inspired by God, there were many sayings of Muhammad
which were carefully treasured up. These are the Traditions,
or as I may call them, the Table-Talk of Muhammad, for
they correspond more nearly to what we mean by table-talk
than any other form of composition. The Table-Talk of
Muhammad deals with the most minute and delicate circum-
stances of life. The sayings are very numerous and very de-
tailed ; but how far they are genuine it is not easy to deter-
mine. The Qur’dn is known beyond any doubt to be at this
moment, in all practical respects, identical with the prophet’s
words as collected immediately after his death. How it was
edited and collected may be read elsewhere. The only point
to be here insisted on is that its genuineness is above suspi-
cion. Unfortunately, as much cannot be said for the Tradi-
tions. All we can go upon is internal evidence, and a few

INTRODUCTION ; 35

obvious contradictions in date—as when people relate things
which they apparently heard before they were born. Beyond
this, criticism is helpless, and all we can do is what I have
done here—to collect those which strike the attention and
do not seem peculiarly improbable, and accept them provi-
sionally as possibly correct reports of Muhammad’s table-
talk. There are six standard collections of orthodox tradi-
tions, but those quoted in this book are taken from the
Mishkat-el-Masabih, which Cap. A. N. Mathews had the
patience to translate and publish at Calcutain 1809. In the
midst of such doubt, they are sufficient for the purpose of
illustration, without any pretence of completeness or critical
precision.

on

os

THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA

I. THE POETIC PERIOD
Aet. 40—44
A.D. 609—613

THE NIGHT 39

THE NIGHT

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

By the NicHT when she spreadth her veil,
By the Day when it is manifested,

By what made the male and the female:
Verily your aims are diverse.

Then as for him who giveth alms and feareth God,

And putteth his faith in the Best,

We will speed him onward to ease.

And as for him who is covetous and desirous of riches,

And denieth the Best,

We will speed him onward to trouble ;

And his riches shall not avail him when he falleth down
into Hell.

Verily ours is the guiding,

And ours the latters and the former Hire,

And I have warned you of a flaming fire:
None shall be burned in it but the wretch,
Who hath called it a lie and turned his back.
But the righteous shall be guided away from it—
He that giveth his substance in charity,
And doeth no man a kindness in hope of reward,
But only in seeking the face of his Lord the Most High ;
And in the end he shail surely be well pleased.
(XCil,)

40 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE COUNTRY
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

IT SWEAR by this COUNTRY—

And thou art a dweller in this country —

And by father and child!

Verily we have created man amid trouble :—

Doth he think that no one shall prevail against him ?

He saith ‘‘I have squandered riches in abundance :”’

Doth he think that no one seeth him ?

Have we not made him two eyes,

And a tongue and two lips,

And pointed him out the two highways ?

Yet he doth not attempt the steep one ?

And what shall teach thee what the steep one is ?

The ransoming of captives,

Or feeling on the day of famine

The orphan of thy kindered

Or the poor that lieth in the dust ;

Finally, to be of those who believe, and enjoin steadfast-
ness on each other, and enjoin mercy on each
other :—

These are the people of the right hand.

And those who disbelieve in our signs, they are the people
of the left :

Over them a Fire closeth.

(xc. )

THE SMITING 4}t

THE SMITING

s

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

THE SmiTING ! what is the Smiting ?

And what shall teach thee what the Smiting is ?

The Day when men shall be like scattered moths,

And the mountains like carded wood !

Then as for him whose scales are heavy—his shall be a life
well pleasing,

And as for him whose scales are light—his abode shall be
the Bottomless Pit.

And what shall teach thee what that is ?

A Raging Fire!

(ci.)

42 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE QUAKING

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

WHEN the earth shall quake with her QUAKING,

And when the earth hath cast fourth her burdens,

And man shall say, ‘‘What aileth her ?”

On that day shall she tell out her tidings,

Because thy Lord doth inspire her.

On that day shall men come in companies to behold their
works,

And whosoever hath wrought an ant’s weight of good
shall behold it,

And whosoever hath wrought an ant’s weight of evil shall
behold it.

(xcix.)

THE RENDING ASUNDER 43

THE RENDING ASUNDER

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

‘WHEN the Heaven is RENT ASUNDER,

And when the stars are scattered,

And when the seas are let loose,

And when the tombs are turned upside down,

The soul shall know what it hath done and left undone.

O man! what hath deceived thee respecting thy Lord, the
Generous ;

Who created thee, and fashioned thee, and moulded thee
aright ?

In what form it pleased him He builded thee.

Nay ! but ye take the Judgment for a lie!

But verily there are watchers over you

Worthy reporters—

Knowing what ye do.

Verily the righteous shall be in delight,

And the wicked in Hell-Fire :

They shall be burnt at it on the Day of doom,

And they shail not be hidden from it.

What'shall teach thee what is the Day of Judgment ?

Again, what shall teach thee what is the Day of Judg-
ment ?

A day when no soul can avail aught for another soul, for
the ordering on that day is with God.

(1xxxii.)

44 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE CHARGERS

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

By the CHARGERS that pant,

And the hoofs that strike fire,
And the scourers at dawn,

Who stir up the dust with it,

And cleave through a host with it !

Verily Man is thankless towards his Lord,

And verily he is witness thereof.

And verily in his love of weal he is grasping.

Doth he not know ?—when what is in the tombs shall be
laid open,

And what is in men’s breasts shall be laid bare ;

Verily on that day their Lord shall know them well!

(c.)

SUPPORT 45

SUPPORT

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Wuat thinkest thou of him who calleth the Day of Judg-
ment a lie ?

He it is who driveth away the orphan,

And is not urgent for the feeding of the poor.

Woe then to those who pray,
Those who are careless in their prayers,

Who make a pretence,
But withhold SUPPORT.
(cvil.)

46

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE BACKBITER

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

WOE to every BACKBITER, slanderer !
Who hath heaped up riches and counted them over !
He thinketh that his riches have made him everlasting :
Nay ! he shall surely be cast into Blasting Hell.
And what shall teach thee what Blasting Hell is ?
The fire of God kindled,
Which reaches over the hearts ;
Verily it is closed over them [like a tent],
With stays well-stretched.
(civ.)

THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING 47

THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

By the SPLENDOUR OF MORNING,

And the still of night !

Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee nor hated thee :

And the future will surely be better for thee than the pre-
sent,

And thy Lord will surely give to thee and thou wilt be
well pleased,

Did He not find thee an orphan and sheltered thee,

And found thee erring and guided thee,

And found the poor and enriched thee ?

Then as for the orphan, oppress him not,

And as for him who asketh of thee, chide him not away ,

And as for the bounty of thy Lord, tell of it.

(xciil.)

48

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE MOST HIGH

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

MAGNIFY the name of thy Lorp, THE Most HIGuH,

Who created, and fashioned,

And decreed, and guided,

Who bringeth forth the pasturage,

Then turneth it dry and brown.

We will make thee cry aloud, and thou shalt not forget,

Except what God pleaseth ; verily He knoweth the plain
and the hidden.

And we will speed thee to ease.

Admonish, therefore,—verily admonishing profiteth,—

Whoso feareth God will mind ;

And there will turn away from it only the wretch

Who shall broil upon the mighty fire ;

And then shall neither die therein, nor live.

Happy is he who purifieth himself,

And remembereth the name of his Lord, and prayeth.

But ye prefer the life of this world,

Though the life to come is better and more enduring.

Truly this is in the books of eld,

The books of Abraham and Moses.

(IxxXvii-)

THE WRAPPING 49

THE WRAPPING

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

WHEN the sun shall be WRAPPED UP,

And when the stars shall fall down,

And when the mountains shall be removed,

And when the ten-month camels shall be neglected,
And when the wild beasts shall be huddled together,
And when the seas shall boil over,

And when souls shall be joined to their bodies,

And when the child that was buried alive shall be asked
For what crime she was slain ;

And when the Books shall be laid open,

And when the sky shall be peeled off,

And when Hell shall be set a-blaze,

And when Paradise shall be brought near,—

The soul shall know what it hath wrought.

And I swear by the stars that hide,

That move swiftly and hide,

And by the darkening night,

And by the breath of dawn,—

Verily this is the word of a noble messenger,

Strong, firm in the favour of the Lord of the Throne,
Obeyed and trusted.

And your companion is not mad:
Of a surety he saw [the Angel] on the clear horizon :
And he is not mistrusted as to the unseen,
Nor is his the speech of a pelted devil.
Then whither go ye ?
Verily this is but a Reminder to the worlds,
4

50 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

To whomsoever of you chooseth to walk aright :
But ye shall not choose it, except God choose it, the

Lord of the worlds.
(1xxx1.)

THE NEWS aE

THES NEW.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

OF what do they question together ”?
Of the great News,

About which they dispute ?

Nay, but they shall know!
Again,—Nay, but they shall know !
Have we not made the earth as a bed ?
And the mountains as tent-pegs ?

And created you in pairs,

And made your sleep for rest,

Aud made the night for a mantle,

And made the day for bread-winning,
And built above you seven firmaments,
And put therein a burning lamp,

And sent down water pouring from the squeezed clouds
To bring forth grain and herb withal.
And gardens thick with trees ?

Lo ! the Day of Decision is appointed—

The day when there shall be a blowing of the trumpet,
and ye shall come in troops,

And the heavens shall be opened, and be full of gates,

And the mountains shall be removed, and turn into mist.

Verily Hell lieth in wait,

The goal for rebels,

To abide therein for ages ;

They shall not taste therein coolness nor drink,

Save scalding water and running sores,—

a2: TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

A meet reward !

Verily they did not expect the reckoning,

And they denied our signs with lies ;

But everything have we recorded in a book :—

“Paste then : for we will only add torment to you.”

Verily for the pious is a place of joy.

Gardens and vineyards,

And full-bosomed girls, their mates,

And a cup brimming over :

There shall they hear neither folly nor lying ;—

A reward of thy Lord—a gift sufficient,

Of a Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of what is
between them, the Merciful !

They shall not obtain speeeh of him :—

On the day when the Spirit and the Angels shall stand in
ranks, they shall have no utterance, save he to whom
the Merciful shall give leave, and who speaketh
rightly.

That is the day of truth! Then he that chooseth, let him
make for his Lord as his goal.

Verily we warn you of torment nigh at hand ;

On the day when man shall see what his hands have sent
before him, and the unbeliever shall say, “‘Oh! that
I were dust.”

(Ixxviil.)

THE FACT 53

Pehe Poxa

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

WHEN the FACT becomes fact,

None shall deny it is a fact,

Abasing,—exalting !

When the earth shall be shaken in a shock,

And the mountains shal! be powdered in powder.
And become like flying dust,

And ye shall be three kinds.

Then the people of the right hand—what people of good
omen !

And the people of the left hand—what people of ill omen!

And the outstrippers, still outstripping :—

These are the nearest [to God],

In gardens of delight ;

A crowd of the men of yore,

And a few of the latter days ;

Upon inwrought couches,

Reclining thereon face to face.

Youths ever young shall go unto them round about

With goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine,—

Their heads shall not ache with it, neither shall they be
confused ;

And fruits of their choice,

And flesh of birds to their desire ;

And damsels with bright eyes like hidden pearls,—

A reward for what they have wrought.

They shall hear no folly therein, nor any sin,

But only the greeting, ‘‘Peace ! peace !”’

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

And the people of the right hand—what people of good
omen !

Amid thornless lote-trees,

And bananas laden with fruit,

And shade outspread,

And water flowing,’

And fruit abundant,

Never failing, nor forbidden,

And wives exalted—

Verily we produced them specially,

And made them virgins,

Amorous, of equal age,

For the people of the right hand,—

A crowd of the men of yore,

And a crowd of the latter days.

But the people of the left hand—what people of ill

omen !—

Amid burning wind and scalding water,

And a shade of black smoke,

Not cool or grateful !

Verily, before that, they were prosperous ,

But they persisted in the most grievous sin,

And used to say,

“When we have died, and become dust and bones, shall
we indeed be raised again,

And our fathers the men of yore ?”

Say : Verily those of yore and of the latter days

Shall surely be gathered to be trysiting-place of a day
which is known.

Then ye, O ye who err and call it a lie,

Shall surely eat of the tree of Zakkum,

And fill your bellies with it,

And drink upon it scalding water,—

Drink like the thirsty camel :—

THE FACT JD

This shall be their entertainment on the Day of Judg-
ment !

It is we who created you ; why then will ye not believe ?

Have ye considered the germs of life—

Is it ye who create them, or are we the creators q

It is we who have decreed death among you; yet are we
nor debarred

From changing you for your likes, or producing you how
ye know not.

But ye have known the first creation : why will ye not
mind ?

Have ye considered what ye sow ?

Is it ye who raise it, or are we the raisers thereof ?

If we pleased we could surely make it dry, so that ye
would stop and marvel, [saying]

‘‘We have spent, yet we are forbidden [the fruits].

Have ve considered the water ye drink ?

Is it ye who send it down from the clouds, or do we send
it down ?

If we pleased we could make it salt ; why will ye not be
thankful ?

Have ye considered the fire which ye kindle ?

Is it ye who make the wood that produces it, or do we
make it ?

It is we who have made it for a reminder and a benefit
to the traveller.

Then magnify the name of thy Lord the Most Great.

And I swear by the setting-places of the stars,
And that, if ye knew it, is verily a mighty oath,
Verily this is the honourable Qur’an,

Written in the preserved Book :

Let none touch it but the purified,—

56 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

A revelation from the Lord of the worlds.

Will ye then disdain this discourse,

And make it your daily bread to discredit it ?

Why then when the dying man’s soul has come up to his
throat,

And ye at the moment are watching, —

And we are nearer to him than ye, although ye see us
nou

Why, if ye are to have no Judgment,

Do ye not cause that soul to return, if ye speak the truth?

But if he be one of those brought nearest to God,

There is rest for him and sweet odour and a garden of
delights.

And if he be of the people of the right hand,

He shall be greeted with] ‘‘Peace to thee,’’ from the
people of the right.

And if he be of those who call it a lie,

The erring,

Then an entertainment of scalding water,

And broiling in Hell.

Verily this is assured truth !

So magnify the name of thy Lord the Most Great

(Ivi.)}

THE MERCIFUL 57

THE MERCIFUL

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

THE MERCIFUL hath taught the Qur’an ;

He created man,

Taught him clear speech ;

The sun and the moon in their courses,

And the plants and the trees do homage.

And the Heaven, He raised it, and appointed the balance.

(That ye should not transgress in the balance :—

But weigh ye justly and stint not the balance.)

And the Earth, He prepared it for living things,

Therein is fruit, and the palm with sheaths,

And grain with its husk, and the fragrant herb :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

He created man of clay like a pot,

And He created the Jinn of clear fire :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Lord of the two Easts,

And Lord of the two Wests :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

He has let loose the two seas which meet together ;

Yet between them is a barrier they cannot pass:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

He bringeth up therefrom pearls great and small:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

58 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

And His are the ships towering on the sea like moun-
tains:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twvain
deny ?

All on the earth passeth away,

But the face of thy Lord abideth endued with majesty and
honour:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

All things in the Heaven and Earth supplicate Him, every
day is He at work:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

We will apply ourselves to you, O ye two notabies :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

O company of Jinn and men, if ye are able to compass the
boundaries of the Heavens and of the Earth, then
compass them; but ye shall not compass them, save
in our might:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

There shall be shot at you a flash of fire and molten brass :
ye cannot defend yourselves :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain

deny ?

And when the Heaven shall rent and become rosy like a
red hide:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

On that day neither man nor Jinn shail be asked about
their sin:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

INTRODUCTION 59

. The sinners shall be known by their signs, and tbey shall
be seized by the forelock and the feet :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

‘“‘This is Hell which the sinners took for a lie,”

To and fro shall they wander between it and water scald-
ing hot:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

But for him who feareth the majesty of his Lord [shall be]
two gardens:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

With trees branched over :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

And therein two flowing wells :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

And therein of every fruit two kinds :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye ‘twain
deny ?

Reclining on couches with linings of brocade and the fruit
of the gardens to their hand :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Therein the shy-eyed maidens neither man nor Jinn hath
touched before:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Like rubies and pearls:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Shall the reward of good be aught but good ?

60 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

And beside these shall be two other gardens :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Dark green in hue:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

With gushing wells therein :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Therein fruit and palm and pomegranante :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Therein the best and comeliest maids :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Bright-eyed, kept in tents:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Man hath not touched them before, nor Jinn:

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Reclining on green cushions and fine carpets :

Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain
deny ?

Blessed be the name of thy Lord endued with majesty and
honour.

(Iv.)

THE UNITY 61

THE UNITY

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Say : He is ONE God ;
God the Eternal.
He begetteth not, nor is begotten ;

Nor is there one like unto Him.
(cxil.)

62 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE FATIHAH

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

PRAISE be to God, the Lord of the Worlds !
Compassionate, the Merciful !

King of the day of judgment !

Thee we worship, and Thee we ask for help.

Guide us in the straight way,

The way of those to whom Thou art gracious ;

Not of those upon whom is Thy wrath nor of the erring.

(1.)

THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA

Il. THE RHETORICAL PERIOD
Aet. 44—46
A.D. 613—615

THE KINGDOM 65

THE KINGDOM
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

‘BLEsSED be He in whose hand is the KINGpom: and He is
powerful over all;

Who created death and life to prove you which of you is
best in actions, and He is the Mighty, the Very For-
giving ;

Who hath created seven heavens in stages : thou seest no
fault in the creation of the Merciful ; but lift up thine
eyes again ; dost thou see any cracks ?

Then lift up the eyes again twice ; thy sight will recoil to
thee dazzled and dim.

Moreover, we have decked the lower heaven with lamps,
and have made them for pelting the devils, and we
have prepared for them the torment of the flame.

And for those who disbelieve in their Lord, the torment
of Hell: and evil the journey to it!

When they shall be cast into it, they shall hark to its bray-
ing as it boileth ;—

It shall well-nigh burst with fury! Every time a troop is
thrown into it, its keepers shall ask them, “‘Did nota
warner come to you ?” |

They shall say, “Yea ! a warner came to us; but we took
him for a liar, and said, ‘God hath not sent down
anything. Verily, ye are only in great error.’ ”’

And they shall say, ‘‘Had we but hearkened or understood,
we had not been among the people of the flame !”

And they will confess their sins: so a curse on the people
of the flame!

>

66 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Verily they who fear their Lord in secret, for them is for-
giveness—a great reward.

And whether ye hide your speech, or say it aloud, verily
He knoweth well the secrets of the breast!

What ! shall He not know, who created ? and He is the
subtle, the well-aware !

It is He who hath made the earth smooth for you : so walk
on its sides, and eat of what He hath provided—and
unto Him shall be the resurrection.

Are ye sure that He who is in the Heaven will not make
the earth sink with you ? and behold, it shall quake!

Or are ye sure that He who is in the Heaven will not send
against you a sand-storm,—so shall ye know about
the warning !

And assuredly those who were before them called it a lie,
and how was it with their denial ?

Or do they not look up at the birds over their heads, flap-
ping their wings? None supporteth them but the
Merciful : verily He seeth all.

Who is it that will be a host for you, to defend you, if not
the Merciful ? verily the unbelievers are in naught but
delusion !

Who is it that will provide for you, if He withhold His
provision? Nay, they persist in pride and running
away !

Is he, then, who goeth grovelling on his face better guided
than he who goeth upright on a straight path ?

Say: it is He who produced you and made you hearing
and sight and heart—little are ye thankful!

Say : it is He who sowed you in the earth, and to Him
shall ye be gathered.

But they say, ‘‘When shall this threat be, if ye are speakers
of truth ?”

THE KINGDOM 67

Say : the knowledge thereof is with God alone, and I am
naught but a plain warner.

But when they shall see it nigh, the countenance of those
Who disbelieved shall be evil,—and it shall be Said,
“This is what ye called for.”’

Say : Have ye considered—whether God destroy me and
those with me, or whether we win mercy—still who
will save the unbelievers from aching torment ?

Say: He is the Merciful: we believe in Him, and in Him
we put our trust—and ye shall soon know which it is
that is in manifest error !

Say : Have ye considered if your waters should sink away
tomorrow, who will bring you running water ?

(Ixvii.)

68 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE MOON

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Tue Hour approacheth and the Moon is cleft asunder.

But if they see a siga they turn aside, and say “Useless
magic !”’

And they call it a lie, and follow their own lusts :—but
everything is ordained.

Yet there came to them messages of forbiddance—

Wisdom supreme—but warners serve not !

Then turn from them: the Day when the Summoner shall
summon to a matter of trouble,

With eyes cast down shall they come forth from their
graves, as if they were scattered locusts,

Hurrying headlong to the summoner: the unbelievers
shall say, “This is a hard day lg

The people of Noah, before them, called it a lie, and they
called our servant a liar, and said, ‘‘Mad !”’ and he
was rejected.

Then he besought his Lord, “Verily I am overpowered :
defend me.”

So we opened the gates of heaven with water pouring
forth,

And we made the earth break out in springs, and the
waters met by an order fore-ordained ;

And we carried him on a vessel of planks and nails,.

Which sajled on beneath our eyes ;—a reward for him who
had been disbelieved.

And we left it as a sign; but doth any one mind ?

THE MOON 69

And what was my torment and warning ?
And we have made the Qur’an easy for reminding ; but doth
anyone mind ?

Ad called it a lie ; but what was my torment and warning ?

Lo, we sent against them a biting wind on a day of settled
ill-luck.

It tore men away as though they were trunks of palm-
trees torn-up.

But what was my torment and warning ?

And we have made the Qur’an easy for reminding ; but doth
any one mind ?

Thamiid called the warning a lie:

And they said, ‘“‘A single mortal from among ourselves
shall we follow ? verily then we should be in error and
madness. |

Is the reminding committed to him alone among us?
Nay, he is an insolent liar.”

They shall know to-morrow about the insolent liar!

Lo! we will send the she-camel to prove them; so mark
them well, and be patient.

And predict to them that the water shall be divided bet-
ween themselves and her, every draught taken in turn.

But they called their companion, and he took and ham:
strung her—

And what was my torment hnd warning ?

Lo! we sent against them one shout; and they became
like the dry sticks of the hurdle-maker.

And we have made the Qur’an easy for reminding ; but doth
any one mind ?

The people of Lot called the warning a lie ;—

Lo! we sent a sand-storm against them, except the family
of Lot, whom we delivered at day-break

70 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

As a favour from us; thus do we reward the thankful.

And he had warned them of our attack, but they mis-
doubted the warning ;

And they sought his guests, so we put out their eyes.

““So taste ye my torment and warning !”

And in the morning there overtook them a punishment
abiding.

‘“So taste ye my torment and warning.”

And we have made the Qur'an easy for reminding ; but doth
any one mind ?

And there came a warning to the people of Pharaoh :
They calied our signs alla lie; so we gripped them with
the grip of omnipotent might.

Are your unbelievers better men than those ? Is there im-
munity for you in the Books ?

Do they say, ‘‘We are a company able to defend itself ?”

They shall all be routed, and turn their backs.

Nay, but the Hour is their threatened time, and the Hour
shall be most grievous and bitter.

Verily the sinners are in error and madness !

One day they shall be dragged into the fire on their faces ;
‘Taste ye the touch of Hell.”

Verily all things have we created by a decree,
And our command is but one moment, like the twinkling
of an eye.

And we have destroyed the like of you :—but doth any one
mind ?

And everything that they do is in the Books ;

Everything, little and great, is written down.

Verily the pious shall be amid gardens and rivers,

In the seat of truth, before the King Omnipotent, lw)
(liv.

Q

in the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Q. By the glorious Qur’an.

Nay, they marvel that a warner from among themselves
hath come to them: and the unbelievers say, ‘‘This is
a marvellous thing !

«‘When we are dead and are become dust !—that is a far-
fetched return!”

We know what the earth consumeth of them, and with us
is a book that keepeth count.

Nay, they called the truth a lie when it came to them, but
they are in a perplexed state.

Will they not look up to the heaven about them, how we
built it, and beautified it, and there are no flaws
therein ?

And we spread out the earth, and cast stable mountains
upon it, and caused to grow there plants of all
beauteous kinds,

For consideration and warning to every repentant servant.

And we sent down water from heaven as a blessing, and
caused thereby gardens and harvest grain to grow.

And tall palm-trees with spathes heaped up,

A provision for our servants ; and revived thereby a barren
land. Like that shall the resurrection be.

Before them the people of Noah and the people of Er-Rass
and Thamid called the prophets liars,

And Ad, and Pharaoh, and the brethern of Lot, and the
people of the grove, and the people of Tubba’—one
and all called the apostles liars, —and found the threat

72 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

true.

Were we then impotent as to the first creation ? ye they
are in doubt about a new creation.

We created man, and we know what his soul whispereth,
and we are nearer to him than this jugular vein.

When the two note-takers take note, sitting on the right
hand and on the left.

Not a word doth he utter, but a watcher is by him ready.

And the stupor of death shall come in truth ;—“‘this is
what thou would’st have avoided.”

And the trumpet shall be blown,—that is the Day of the
Threat !

And every soul shall come, along with a driver and a
witness—

‘Thou didst not heed this : so we have taken away from
thee thy evil, and today thy sight is keen.”

And his companion shall say, ‘‘This is what I am ready to
witness.”

“Cast ye into Hell every unbelieving rebel,

Hinderer of the good, transgressor, doubter,

Who setteth up other gods with God ; cast ye him into the
fierce torment,”

His companion shall say, ‘‘O our Lord! I misled him not ;
but he was in fathomless error.”

God shall say, ‘“‘Wrangle not before me, for I charged you
before about the threat.

“(My word does not change, and I am not unjust to my
servants.”

On that day will we say to Hell, ‘Art thou full?” and it
shall say, ‘‘Is there more ?”

And Paradise shall be brought nigh to the righteous, not
afar :—

‘This is what ye were promised, unto every one who

Q i

turneth himself to God and keepath His laws,

‘“‘Who feareth the Merciful in secret, and cometh with a
contrite heart ;

‘Enter it in peace :’’—that is the Day of Eternity !

‘‘They shall have what they please therein, and increase
at our hands.

And how many generations have we destroyed before
them, mightier than they in valour ! then seek through
the land—is there any refuge ?

Verily in that is a warning to him who hath a heart, or

giveth ear, and is a beholder.

And We created the heavens, and the earth, and what is
between them, in six days, and no weariness touched
us.

Then be patient with what they say, magnify thy Lord
with praise before the rising of the sun and its setting,

And in the night magnify Him, and in the endings of the
prayers.

And give ear to the day when the crier shall cry from a
near place,

The day when they shall hear the shout in truth—that is
the day of resurrection !

Verily it is we who give life and death, and to us do all re-
turn.

The day when the earth shall gape asunder over them
suddenly—that is the gathering easy to us!

We know well what they say : and thou art not a tyrant.
over them.

But warm by the Qur’an him who feareth the threat.

(1.)

“74

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

iS.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Y. S. By the wise Qur’an!

Verily thou art of the Messengers

Upon the straight way.

A revelation of the Mighty, the Merciful :—

To warn a people whose fathers were not warned, and
themselves are heedless,

Our word has proved true against the most of them; yet
they will not believe !

Verily we have put shackles on their necks, reaching to the
chin, and their heads are tied back ;

And we have put a barrier before them and a barrier be-
hind them, and we have covered them to that they see
not ;

And it is all one to them whether thou warn them or warn
not : they will not believe.

Thou wilt only warn to good purpose him who followeth
the monition and feareth the Merciful in secret : so
tell him good tidings of forgiveness and a noble re-
ward,

Verily it is we who quicken the dead, and write down the
deeds they have sent before them and the vestiges they
leave behind them ; and everything do we set down in
the plain Exemplar.

And frame for them a parable—the people of the town

lof Antioch], when the Apostles came to it :
When we sent unto them two, and they called them liars ;

von: fb

so we strengthened them with a third, and they said,
‘Verily we are sent unto you.”

The people said, “‘Ye are only men like us ; and the Merci-
ful hath not revealed aught; in sooth ye are only
lying.”

They said, “Our Lord knoweth that we are indeed sent
unto you ;

And there is naught laid upon us but to announce a plain
messnge.”’

The people said, “Of a truth we have drawn an evil
augury from you: unless ye desist, we will surely

stone you, and a painful punishment shall surely be-
tide you from us.”

They said, ‘Your evil augury is with yourselves ! If ye be
warned ?—Nay ! ye are an ignorant people.”

And there came from the furthest part of the city a man
running : he said, “O my people ! follow the Apostles,

Follow those who ask you not for recompense, and who
are guided aright.

And what is in me, that I should not worship Him who
made me and to whom ye must return ?

Shall I take gods beside Him! If the Merciful be pleased
to afflict me, their intercession will not avail meaught,
nor will they deliver me;

Verily in that case I should be in a manifest error.

Verily I believe in your Lord : therefore hear ye me, =

It was said, ‘‘Enter into Paradise,” and he said, ‘‘Would
that my people knew

How that my Lord hath forgiven me and hath made me
one of the honoured !”’

And afterwards we sent not down upon his people armies
out of heaven nor what we were wont to send down :

If was but one shout, and lo, they were extinct !

76 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

O the pity of men! No apostle to cometh to them but they
laugh him to scorn.

Do they not consider how many generations we have des-
troyed before them ?

Verily they shall not return to them,

But gathered together before us shall they all be arraigned.

And a sign for them is the dead earth which we quicken
and bring thereforth grain, and they eat of it;

And we make therein gardens of palm-trees and vines, and
cause springs to gush forth therein ;

That they may eat of its fruits, and of the labour of their
hands : and will they not be thankful ?

Extolled be the glory of Him who hath created all sorts of
what the earth beareth, and of men’s selves, and of
that they know not of!

And a sign for them is the night. We draw away the day
from it, and lo! they are in darkness ;

And the sun hasteneth to her resting-place.—This is the
ordinance of the Mighty, the Wise !—

And for the moon we have decreed his mansions, till he is
wasted to the likeness of a withered palm-branch.

It is not meet that the sun should overtake the moon, nor
the night outstrip the day ; but each doth swim in its
sphere.

And it is a sign for them that we carry their offspring in
the burthened ship;

And that we create for them the like of it to ride on:

And ife we please, we drown them, and there is no succour
for them, nor are they delivered,

Save in our mercy, and for a transient joy.

And when it is said to them, ‘‘Fear what is before you and
what is behind you; haply ye may obtain mercy :”

Thou bringest not one sign of the signs of their Lord but

hone ad

they turn away from it !

And when it is said to them, ‘‘Give alms of what God
hath bestowed on you,” they who disbelieve say to
those who believe, ‘“‘Shall we feed him whom God
can feed if He pleases ? verily ye are only in manifest
error.”

And they say ‘“‘When will this threat come to pass, if ye
be speakers of truth ?”’

They await but a single blast; it shall smite them whilst
they are wrangling, .

And they shall not be able to make their wills, and unto
their families they shall not return.

And the trumpet shall be blown, and behold they shall
hasten out of the graves to their Lord:

Saying, “Oh, woe is us! who hath roused us from our
sleeping-place ? This is what the Merciful threatened,
and the apostles spake truth.”

There shall be but one blast, and, lo! all are arraigned be-
fore us; |

And on that day no soul shall be wronged at ail, nor shall
ye be recompensed save for what ye have wrought.

Verily on that day the people of Paradise shall be happy
in their pursuits,

They and their wives reclining on couches in the shade ;

They have fruit there and whatsoever they demand :

“Peace” is their greeting from a merciful Lord.

“Separate ye this day, O ye sinners !

Did I not charge you, O sons of Adam, not to serve the
Devil,—surely he is your open enemy,—

But to worship Me: this is the straight way ?

-Yet he led away a great multitude of you: had ye no
wits ? :

78 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

This is Hell, which ye were threatened with :

Roast there today, because ye did not believe.”

On the day will we set a seal on their mouths, but their
hands shall speak to us, and their feet shall bear wit-
ness of what they have earned for themselves.

And if we pleased, we could put out their eyes, and still
would they hasten on their way : but how would they
see ?

And if we pleased we could transform them as they stand
so that they could not go on or turn back ;

And him whom we make old, we bow down his body:
have they no wits ?

We have not taught [Muhammad] poetry, nor would it be-
fithim. It is only a warning and a plain Qur’an,

To warn whosoever liveth: and the sentence shall be
carried out upon the unbelievers.

Do they not see that we have created for them, of what
our hands have made, the cattle which they possess ?

And we have subdued them unto them, and some of them
are for riding and of some they eat,

And they have in them profit and milk to drink : and will
they not be thankful ?

But they have taken other gods beside God, if haply they
may be holpen :

They are not able to help them ; yet they themselves are
an army arrayed for their defence.

But let not their speech grieve thee : verily, we know what
they hide and what they show !

Doth not man see that we created him from a germ? Yet,
behold he is an open adversary,

And he putteth arguments to us, and forgetteth his crea-
tion, saying, ‘‘Who can quicken bones that are

Y. S. 719°

rotten ?”’ .

Say : He who first made them to be shall quicken them:
for all creating He knoweth well ;—

Who made for you fire from a green tree, and behold, ye
kindle with it ;

And is not He who created the Heavens and the Earth
able to create their like? Yea! for He is the wise
Creator.

His command, when he willeth a thing, is only to say to
it “BE, ’ and it 16.

The extolled be the Perfection of Him in whose hand is.
the empire over all, and to whom ye must return.
(XXXVI. )

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THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

EXTOLLED be the glory of Him who conveyed his servant
by night from the Sacred Mosque to the furthest
mosque, whose precincts we have blessed, to show him
our signs! Verily, He it is who heareth and seeth!

And we gave the Book of the Law to Moses and made it
a guide to the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL—‘‘Take ye no
guardian beside Me,

Seed of those whom we bore [in the ark] with Noah!
Verily he was a greateful servant !”

And we ordained for the Children of Israel in the Book,—
“Ye shall surely work iniquity in the earth twice, and
ye shall be puffed up with a mighty arrogance.”

So when the threat came to pass for the first of the two
sins, we sent upon you servants of ours armed with
grievous punishment; and they went among your
houses, and the threat was carried out.

‘Then in turn we gave you victory over them, and helped
you with riches and sons, and made you a very
numerous host.

If ye do well, ye will do well to your own souls, and if ye
do ill, it will be to them also. And when the threat
came to pass for the second sin.—[the enemy came] to
afflict you, and to enter the mosque as they entered it
the first time, and to utterly destroy what they had
overpowered.

Haply your Lord will have mercy on you! and if ye turn,
we will turn ; but we have made Hell for a prison for

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 81

the unbelievers.

Verily this Qur’an guideth to the right way and giveth
good tidings to believers,

Who do that which is right, that for them is a great re-
ward ;

And that for those who believe not in the life to come, we
have made ready an aching torment.

Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good : for man was
ever hasty.

We have made the night and the day for two signs : then
we blot out the sign of the night, and moke the sign
of the day manifest, that ye may seek bounty from
your Lord, and may know the number of the years
and the reckoning of time; and we have defined every-
thing definitely.

And every man’s fate we have fastened about his neck.
And we will bring to him on the day of Resurrection
a book which shall be offered to him open :—

“Read thy Book: thou thyself art accountant enough
against thyself this day.”

He who is guided, for his own good only shall he be guid-
ed, and he who erreth but to his own hurt : and one
burdened soul shall not be burdened with another’s

burden.
4

And we did not punish until we had sent an apostle.
And when we resolved to destroy,a city, we enjoined its
men of wealth, but they disobeyed therein; so the
sentence proved true, and we destroyed it utterly.
How many generations have we swept away since Noah !
and thy Lord knoweth aad seeth enough of the sins of
His servants.

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Whoso desireth the present life, we will present him with
what we please therein, to whom we choose: finally,
we will make Hell for him to roast in, disgraced and
banished :

But whoso desireth the life to come, and striveth after it
strenuously, and be a believer,—the endeavour of
these shall be acceptable :

To all, to these and those, will we extend the gifts of thy
Lord ; and the gifts of thy Lord are not limited.

See how we have made some of them excellent above
others ! but the life to come is greater in degrees and
greater in excellence.

Set no other god with God, lest thou sit down disgraced
and defenceless.

Thy Lord hath obtained that ye worship none but Him ;
and kindness to your parents, whether one or both of
them attain old age with thee: then say not them,
“Fie !’’ neither reproach them; but speak to them
generous words,

And droop the wing of humility to them out of compas-
sion, and say, ‘‘Lord, have compassion on them, like
as they fostered me when I was little.”’

(Your Lord knoweth perfectly what is your souls,
whether ye be well-doers :

And verily He is forgiving to the repentant.)

And render to thy kinsman his due, and to the poor and
to the son of the road (but lavish not wastefully ;
Truly the wasteful are brothers of the Devil, and the Devil

is ungrateful to his Lord :)

But if you turnest away from them, to seek the mercy
which thou ho;set from thy Lord, yet speak to them
gentle words.

And let not thy hand be chained to thy neck ; mor yet

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 83

stretch it forth right open, or thou wilt sit down in re-
proach and destitution.

Verily thy Lord will be openhanded with provision for
whom He pleaseth, or He will be Sparing; He knowéth
and seeth His servants.

And slay not your children for fear of want : we will pro
vide for them. Beware ! verily killing them is a great
sin.

And draw not near to inchastity ; verily it isa foul thing,
and evil is the course.

And slay not the soul whom God hath forbidden you to
Slay, unless for a just cause : and whosoever shall be
Slain wrongfully, we give his heir the right [of re-
taliation] ; but let him not exceed in Slaying ; verily
he is protected.

And approach not the substance of the orphan, except to
make it better, till he cometh to maturity : and
observe your covenants ; vetily covenants shall te
inquired of hereafter.

And give full measure when ye measure, weigh with dan
even balance ; that is best and fairest in the end.

And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge :
verily the hearing, and the sight, and the heart, —afi
of them shall be inquired of.

And walk not proudly on the earth: verily thou shalt
never cleave the earth, nor reach to the mountains in
height !

All that is evil in thy Lord’s eye, an abomination.

That is part of the wisdom which thy Lord hath revealed
to thee. And make no other god beside God, or thow
wilt te thrown into Hell in reproach and banishment.

Hath then the Lord assigned to you sons. and shall He
take for himself daughters from among the angels ?

84 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

verily ye do say a tremendous saying !

And we made variations in this Qur'an to warn them ; yet
it only increaseth their repulsion.

Say : If there were other gods with Him, as ye say, they
would then seek occasion against the Lord of the
throne.

Extolled be His glory, and be He greatly exalted far above
what they say !

The seven heavens, and the earth, and all that is therein,
magnify Him, and there is naught but magnifieth His
praise ; only ye understand not their worship. Verily
He is forbearing, forgiving.

When thou declaimest the Qur’dn, we put between thee
and those who believe not in the life to come a close
Vell ;

And we put coverings over their hearts, lest they should
understand it, and deafness in their ears.

And when thou tellest of thy Lord in the Qur’an as One,
they turn their backs in repulsion.

We know well what they listen for, when they listen to
thee, and when they whisper apart, when the wicked
say, “Ye do but follow a man enchanted.”

See what comparisons they make for thee! but they
wander and cannot find the way.

They say, ‘‘What ! when we have become bones and dust,
shall we forsooth be raised as a new creature ?”

Say : Yes ! were ye stones, or iron, or any creature, the
hardest [to raise again] that your minds can imagine.
But they will say, ‘‘Who shall restore us ?” Say : He
who began you in the beginning ! And they will wag
their heads at thee and say, ‘‘When shall this be ?”
Say : May be it is nigh at hand.—

A day when God shall summon you and ye shall answer

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 85

with his praise; and ye shall think that ye have tars
ried but a little while.

And say to my servants that they speak pleasantly : verily
the Devil provoketh strife among them; verily the
Devil is man’s open enemy.

Your Lord knoweth you well; if He please He will have
mercy on you; or if He please He will torment you;
and we have not sent thee to be our governor over
them !

Thy Lord knoweth well who is in the heavens and in the
earth. And we distinguished some of the prophets
above others, and we gave to David the Psalms.

Say : Call ye upon those whom ye profess beside Him; but
they will have no power to put away trouble from you
or alter it.

Those whom they invoke do themselves strives for access
to their Lord, which of them shall be nearest: and
they hope for His mercy and fear His torment : verily
the torment of thy Lord is to be dreaded.

There is no city but we will destroy it before the Day of
Resurrection, or torment it with grievous torment.
That is written in the Book.

Nothing hindered our sending thee with signs but that the
people of yore called them lies. We gave Thamid the
she-camel before their very eyes, but they maltreated
her ; and we send not [a prophet] with signs except to
territy.

And when we said to thee, ‘‘verily thy Lord encompasseth
mankind ; ’’—and we made the vision which we show-
ed thee, and the accursed tree in the Qur’an, only to
prove men; and we will terrify them; but it shall
only add to their disobedience.

And when we said to the angels, ‘‘Bow down to Adam:”’

86 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

and they all bowed down save Iblis: who said, ‘‘What !
shall I bow down to him whom thou hast created of
clay?”

And said, ‘“‘Dost thou consider this one whom thou hast
honoured above me? Verily, if thou didst spare me
till the day of Resurrection, I would utterly destroy
his offspring, all but a few!”

God said, ‘‘Begone; but whosoever of them followeth thee,
verily, Hell is to be your reward—reward enough !

And tempt whom thou canst of them by thy voice; and
assail them with thy horsemen and thy footmen, and
share with them in their riches and their children, and
make them promises. (But the Devil’s promises are
deceitful.)

Verily thou hast no power over my servants : and thy
Lord sufficeth for a defender.”’

It is your Lord who driveth you ships on the sea, that ye
may seek of His abundance, verily He is merciful to
you.

And when a harm befalleth you at sea, they whom ye call
on beside Him are missing! Then when He bringeth
you safe to land, ye stand aloof: for man was ever
thankless.

Are ye sure that He will not swallow you up on the shore,
or send a sandstorm against you? then ye would not
find for you any defender.

Or are ye sure that He will not turn you back again to
sea, and send against you a storm of wind and drown
you, because ye were thankless? Then shall ye find
for yourselves no helper against us.

And we have honoured the sons of Adam, and we have
borne them on the land end on the sea, and have fed
them with good things, and distinguished them above
many of our creatures.

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 87

On a day we will summon all men with their scripture:
then whoso is given his book into his right hand,—
these shall read their book and not be wronged a
whit.

And he who has been blind in this life shall be blind in
the life to come, and miss the road yet more.

And verily they had well-nigh tempted thee from what we
revealed to thee, to forge against us something false ;
and then they would have taken thee to friend ;

And had we not prevented thee, thous hadst well-nigh
inclined to them a little:

In that case we would tiave made thee to taste of torment
double in life and‘double in death, then should’st thou
find for thyself on helper against us.

And they well-nigh frightened thee from the land, to drive
thee out of it; but if they had, they should only have
tarried a little white behind thee.

[This was our] custom with our apostles whom we sent
before thee, and thou shalt find no changing in our
custom.

Perform prayer from the setting of the sun till the fall of
night, and the recital at dawn,—verily the recital at
dawn is witnessed :

And watch thou part of the night as a voluntary service ;
it may be that thy Lord will raise thee to a place of
praise :

And say: O my Lord, cause me to enter with a right
entry, and to come forth with a right forthcoming,
and grant me from thyself a power of defence.

And say: Truth is come and falsehood is fled away : verily
falsehood is a fleeting thing.

And we send down from the Qur’dn healing and mercy to

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

the faithful ; but it shall only add to the ruin of the

wicked.

And when we are gracious to man, he turneth away and
standeth aloof; but when evil touches him he is in
despair.

Say : Every one doeth after his own fashion, but your
Lord knoweth perfectly who is best guided on the
road.

And the will ask thee of the Spirit; Say: The Spirit
cometh at my Lord behest, and ye are given but
scant knowledge.

And assuredly, if we pleased we could take away what we
have revealed to thee: then wouldst thou not find
for thyself a defender against us.

Save in mercy from thy Lord; verily His bounty towards
thee is great.

Say : Surely of mankind and the Jinn united in order to
produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce
its like, though they helped one another.

We have varied every kind of parable for men in this
Qur'an, but most men consent only to discredit it.

And they say, ‘“‘We will by no means believe in thee till
thou makest a spring to gush forth for us from the
earth ;

Or till there cometh to thee a graden of palm-trees and
grapes, and thou makest rivers to gush forth abund-
antly in its midst ;

Or thou make the heaven to fall down in pieces upon us,
as thou pretendest; or bring God and the angels
before us ;

Or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend up into
Heaven ; and we will not believe in thy ascent until
thou send down to us a book which we may read.”’
Say : Extolled be the glory of my Lord! Am I aught

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 89:

save a man, a messenger ?

And nothing prevented men from believing, when the
guidance came to them, but their saying, ‘‘Hath God.
sent a mere man as a messenger ?”

Say : Had there been angels upon the earth walking at
ease, we had surely sent them an angel from heaven.
as an apostle.

Say : God is witness enough between me and you: verily
He knoweth and seeth His servants.

And whom God guideth, he is guided, and whom He mis-
leadeth, thou shalt find him no protectors beside Him 3.
and we will gather them on the day of Resurrection
upon their faces, blind, and dumb, and deaf, hell is
their abode; so oft its fire dieth down, we will stir up
the flame.

This is their reward, for that they believed not our signs,
and said, ‘‘When we are become bones and dust, shall.
we indeed be raised a new creature ?”

Do they not see that God, who created the heavens and
the earth is able to create their likes ? and He hath
made an appointed term for them: there is no doubt
of it; but the wicked consent only to deny it!

Say: If ye possessed the treasures of the mercy of thy
Lord, ye would then assuredly keep them, in fear of
spending : for man is niggardly.

Heretofore We brought to Moses nine evident signs:
Ask then the Children of Israel [the story]—when
he came unto them, and Pharaoh said unto him,
‘Verily I consider thee to be bewitched, O Moses.”

He said, ‘‘Thou knowest that none hath sent these down
as proofs but the Lord of the heavens and the earth ;.
and verily I consider thee, O Pharaoh, accursed.”

So he sought to drive them out of the land; but we

90 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

drowned him and those with him, every one.

And after this we said to the Children of Israel. ‘‘Dwell ye
in the land, and when the promise of the life to come
befalleth, we will bring you in a troop to judgment.”

And in truth have we sent down [the Qur'an], and in truth
came it down, and we have Sent thee only to give good
tidings and to warn.

And the Qur’an have we divided that thou mayest recite
it unto men by degrees ; and we have sent it down by
[separate] sendings.

Say: Believe ye therein or believe ye not :—those verily
to whom knowledge hath been given before, when it
is told to them, fall down on their faces in adoration,
and say, ‘‘Extolled be the glory of our Lord! verily
the promise of our Lord is accomplished.”

And they fall down upon their faces weeping, and it
increaseth their humility.

‘Say : Call upon God, or call upon the Merciful, which-
ever ye call Him by, for His are the goodliest names.
And be not loud in thy prayer, nor yet mutter it low;
but follow a course between.

And Say: Praise be to God who hath not taken a son,
and who hath no partner in the Kingdom, and no
protector hath He for abasement ; and glorify Him
gloriously.

: (xvii.)

THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA

lll. THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD
Aet. 46—53
A.D. 615—622

THE BELIEVER 93

THE BELIEVER

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

H. M. THE revelation of the Book is from God the
Mighty, the Wise,

Forgiver of sin, and acceptor of repentance,—heavy in
punishment,

Long-suffering : there is no God but, He, to whom is your
journeying.

None dispute about the signs of God save those who dis-
believe; but let not their trafficking in the land
deceive thee.

Before them the people of Noah, and the allies after
them, denied, and every folk hath purposed against
its apostle to overmaster him, and they argued with
falsehood to rebut the truth therewith ; but I did
overmaster them and how great was my punishment!

And thus was the sentence of thy Lord accomplished upon
those who disbelieved, that they should be inmates of
the Fire !

They that bear the Throne and they that are round about
it magnify the praise of their Lord and believe in Him
and beg forgiveness for those who believe :—‘“O our
Lord! thou embracest all things in mercy and know-
ledge, give pardon to those who repent and follow thy
path, and keep them from the torment of hell,

O our Lord, and bring them into the gardens of eternity
which thou hast promised to them and to the just
among their fathers and their wives and their off-

94 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

spring ; verily thou art the Mighty, the Wise;

And keep them from evil; for he whom thou keepest
from evil on that day, on him hast thou had mercy—
and that is the great prize !”’

Verily to those who disbelieve shall come a voice, ‘‘Surely
the hatred of God is greater than your hatred among
yourselves, when ye are called to the faith, and dis-
believe.”

They shall say, ““O our Lord, twice hast thou given us
death, and twice hast thou given us life; and we
acknowledge our sins: is there then a way to
escape ?’”—

“That hath befallen you because when one God was pro-
claimed, ye disbelieved : but when partners were
ascribed to Him, ye believed: but judgment belongeth
unto God, the High, the Great.”’

It is He who showeth you His signs, and sendeth down to
you provision from heaven : but none mindeth except
the repentant.

Then call on God with due obedience, though loth be the
infidels ;

Of high degree, Lord of the throne ; He sendeth down the
Spirit at His will upon whom He pleaseth of His
servants to warn men of the day of the Tryst :—

The day when they shall come forth, and when nothing of
theirs shall be hidden from God. Whose is the king-
ship on that day? It is God’s the One, the Con-
queror!

The day every soul shall be rewarded for what it hath
earned: no injustice shall there be on that day!
Verily God is swift to reckon.

And warn them of the approaching Day, when their hearts

THE BELIEVER 95.

shall choke in their throats,

When the wicked have no friend nor intercessor to pre+
vail.

He knoweth the deceitful of eye, and what the breast con-
cealeth,

And God judgeth with truth ; but those gods whom they
call on beside Him cannot judge aught. Verily it is.
God that heareth and seeth!

Have they not journeyed in the earth, and seen what was.
the end of those who were before them ? Those were:
mightier than they in strength, and in their footprints.
on the earth : but God overtook them in their sins,,
and there was none to keep them from God.

That was because apostles had come to them with mani-.
festations, and they believed not: but God overtook
them; verily He is strong and heavy in punishment.

We sent Moses of old with our signs and with plain
authority,

To Pharaoh, and Haman, and Korah: and they said, “A
lying wizard,”

And when he came to them with truth from us they said,.
“Slay the sons of those who believe with them, and
spare their women ;” but the plot of the unbelievers
was at fault:

And Pharaoh said, ‘“‘Let me alone to kill Moses; and let
him call upon his Lord: verily I fear lest he change
your religion, or cause iniquity in the earth.”’

And Moses said, ‘Verily I take refuge with my Lord and
your Lord from every one puffed up who believeth
not in the day of reckoning.”’

And there spake a man of the family of Pharaoh, a
BEL'EVER, who concealed his faith, ‘‘Will ye kill a man

96 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

because he saith my Lord is God, when he hath come
unto you with manifestations from your Lord ? for if
he be a liar, upon him alone is his lie, but if he be a
man of truth, somewhat of that which he threateneth
will befall you. Verily God guideth not him who is
an outrageous liar.

O my people, today is the kingdom yours who are upper-
most in the earth! but who will defend us against the
might of God if it come upon us ?” Pharaoh said, *‘]
will only show you what I think, and I will not guide
you save in a right way.”

Then said he who believed, ‘‘O my people, verily I fear for
vou the like of the day of the allies,

The like of the state of the people of Noah, and Ad and
Thamiud,

And of those who came after them; and God willeth not
injustice to His servants.

And, O my people! verily I fear for you the day of crying
out:

The day when ye shall turn your backs in flight, ye shall
have no protector against God; and he whom God
misleads, no guide has he.

Moreover, Joseph came unto you before with manifesta-
tions ; but ye ceased not to doubt about [the message]
he brought you, until when he died ye said, ‘God will
by no means send an apostle after him.” Thus God
misleadeth him who is an outrageous doubter.

‘They who dispute about the signs of God, and no proof
coming to them, are very hateful to God and to those
who believe. Thus God sealeth the heart of all who
are puffed up and arrogant.”

And Pharaoh said, ““O Haman, build me a tower, mayhap
I shall reach the avenues,

‘The avenues of the heavens, any may ascend to the

THE BELIEVER 97

God of Moses: but verily I hold him a liar.”?

And thus the wickedness of his deed seemed good to
Pharaoh, and he was turned away from the right
path ; but the plot of Pharaoh only came to ruin.

And he who believed said, ‘‘O my people, follow me: I
will guide you the right way.

O my people, the life of this world is but a passing joy;
but the life to come, that is the abode imperishable.

Whosoever doeth evil shall not be rewarded save with its
like; and whosoever doeth right, whether male or
female, being a believer—these shall enter paradise ;
and be provided therein without count.

And O my people! how is it that I bid you to salvation,
but that ye bid me to the Fire ?

Ye call me to disbelieve in God and join to Him that of
which I have no knowledge: and I call you to the
Mighty, the Very Forgiving.

There is no doubt but that those ye call me to are not to
be called on in this world or in the world to come, and
that we shall return unto God, and the transgressors
shall be inmates of the Fire.

Then shall ye call to mind what I said to you: and I com-
mit my case to God: verily God regardeth His ser-
vants.”’

So God kept him from the evil which they devised, and
there encompassed the people of Pharaoh the woeful
torment—

The Fire, to which they shall be exposed morning and
evening ; and on the day when the Hour cometh—
“Enter, ye people of Pharaoh, into the sorest tor-
ment.”’

And when they shall wrangle together in the fire, the feeble
shall say to those who were puffed up, “Verily we
followed you: will ye then remove from us aught of

i

98 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

the Fire ?”’

And those who were puffed up will say, ‘“Verily we are all
in it. Behold! God hath judged between His ser-
vants.””

And they who are in the Fire shall say to the keepers of
Hell, ‘“‘Call on your Lord, that He remit us one day
from the torment.”

The keepers shall say, “Did there not come to you your
apostles with manifestations ?” They shall say,
“Yea.” The keepers shall say, “Call then,”’ but the
cry of the unbelievers shall be vain.

Verily we will help our apostles and those who believe,
both in the life of this world and on the day when the
witness shall stand forth ;—

A day whereon the excuse of the wicked shall not profit
them ; but they shall have the curse and the abode of
woe.

And of old gave we Moses the guidance, and the Children
of Israel made we heirs of the Book,—a guidance and
a warning to those who have understanding.

Be patient, therefore ; verily the promise of God is true;
and seek pardon for thy sins and magnify the praises
of thy Lord at eve and early morn.

Verily those who dispute about the signs of God, without
proof reaching them, there is naught in their breasts
but pride : and they shall not win. But seek refuge
with God ; verily, He heareth and seeth.

Surely the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater
than the creation of man. But most men do not
know.

Moreover the blind and the seeing are not equal, nor the
sinner and they who believe and do the things that
are right ;—little do they mind!

THE BELIEVER 99

Verily the Hour is assuredly coming : there is no doubt of
it ;—but most men do not believe.

And your Lord saith, “Call upon me:—I will hearken
unto you: but as to those who are too puffed up for
my service, they shall enter Hell in contempt.”

It is God who made you the night to rest in, and the day
of seeing : verily God is bounteous to man, but most
men are not thankful.

That is God your Lord, Creator of all things : there is no
god but He: then why do ye turn away ?-

Thus do they turn away who gainsay the signs of God—

God, who made you the earth for a resting-place and the
heaven for a tent, and formed you and made goodly
your forms and provided you with good things—that
is God, your Lord.

Then blessed be God, the Lord of the worlds !

He is the Living One. No god is there but He! then call
upon Him, purifying your service to Him. Praise be
to God, the Lord of the worlds !

Say: Verily | am forbidden to serve those whom ye oa
on beside God, since there came to me manifestations
from my Lord, and I am bidden to resign myself to
the Lord of the worlds.

He it is who created you of dust, then of a germ, then of
blood ; then bringeth you forth a babe : then ye come
to your strength, then ye become old men (but some
of you die before) and reach the appointed term;
haply ye will understand !

It is He who giveth life and death ; and when He decreeth
a thing, He only saith to it, ‘‘Be,”’ and it is.

Hast thou not beheld those who cavil at the signs of God,
how they are turned aside ?

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They who call the Book, and that with which we have sent
our apostles, a lie: they shall soon know!

When the shackles shall be on their necks, and the chains,
whilst they are dragged into Hell—then in the fire
shall they be burned—

Then shall it be said to them, .‘Where is that which ye
joined in worship beside God 2’ They shall say,
“They are lost to us. Nay! we did not call before
upon anything.” Thus God misleadth the unbe-
lievers.

‘‘That is because ye exulted on earth in what was not true,
and because ye were insolent.

Enter the gates of Hell to abide therein for ever: and
wretched is the abode of the proud !

But be thou patient: verily the promise of God is true :
and whether we show thee part of what we threatened
them, or whether we make thee to die; yet to us shall
they return.

We have sent apostles before thee. Of some we have told
thee and of some we have not told thee: but no
apostle was able to bring a sign unless by the permis-
sion of God. But when God’s behest cometh, every-

thing is decided with truth: and those perish who
think it vain.

It is God who hath made for you the caitle, some to ride
and some to eat,

(And ye have profit from them) and to attain by them the
aims of your hearts, for on them and in ships are ye
borne :

And He showeth you His signs: which then of the signs
of God will ye deny ?

Have they not journeyed in the earth, and seen what was

THE BELIEVER 101

the end of those who were before them ? They were
in number more than they, and mightier in strength,
and in their footprints on the earth : but what they
had earned availed them nothing ;

And when their apostles came to them with manifestations,
the exulted in what knowledge they had ; but that
which they had scoffed at encompassed them.

And when they behold our might they said, ‘‘We believe
in God alone, and we disbelieve in what we joined in
worship with Him.”’

And naught availed their faith, after they witnessed our
might. Such the way of God which was reserved for
his servants—and therein the unbelievers have lost.

(xl.)

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JONAH
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

_ A.L.R. THESE are the signs of the wise Book !
Is it a matter of wonder to the people that we revealed to
a man from among themselves, ‘‘Warn the people ;
and bring good tidings to those who believe, that the
reward of their good faith is with their Lord? The
unbelievers say, ‘‘Lo ! this is an evident sorcerer !"’

Verily your Lord is God, who made the heavens and the
earth in six days—then ascended the throne to govern
all things : there is none to plead with Him save by
His permission.—This is God, your Lord ! then wor-
ship ye Him: will ye not mind ?

Unto Him shall ye all return by the sure promise of God :
behold ! He produces a creature, then maketh it re-
turn again, that He may reward with equity those
who believe and do the things that are right: but
those who believe not, for them is the scalding drink,
and an aching torment —because they did not believe.

It is He who hath made the sun for shining, and the moon
for light, and ordained him mansions that ye may
learn the number of years and the reckoning of time.
God did not create that but in truth. He maketh His
signs plain to a people who know.

Verily in the alterations of the night and the day, and in
all that God created in the heavens and the earth, are
Signs to a godfearing folk.

JONAH 103

Verily they who do not hope to meet us, and are satisfied
with the life of this world, and are content with it, and
they who are careless of our signs,—

Their dwelling-place is the Fire, for what they have
earned.

Verily they who believe and do the things that are right,
their Lord shall guide them because of their faith ;
beneath them rivers shall flow in gardens of delight :

Their cry therein shall be, ‘““Extolled be thy glory, O God!”
and their salutation therein shall be ‘‘Peace ad

And the end of their cry shall be, ‘‘Praise to God, Lord of
the worlds !”

And if God should hasten woe upon men as they fain
would hasten weal, verily their appointed term is de-
creed for them ! therefore we leave those who hope
not to meet us groping in their disobedience.

Moreover, when affliction toucheth man, he calleth us
upon his side, sitting, or standing ; and when we take
away his affliction from him, he passeth on as though
he had not called us in the affliction that touched
him! Thus do the deeds of transgressors seem good
to them !

We have destroyed generations before you, when they
sinned and their apostles came to them with manifes-
tations and they would not believe ;—thus do we re-
quite the sinful folk.

Then we made you their successors in the earth after them,
to seé how ye would act.

But when our manifest signs are recited to them, they who
hope not to meet us say, “Bring a different Qur’an
from this, or change it.” Say: It is not for me to
change it of mine own will. I follow only what is re-
vealed to me: verily I fear if I disobey my Lord the
torment of the great Day.

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Say: If God pleased, I had not recited it to you nor
taught it you; and already I had dwelt a lifetime
amongst you before that : have ye then no wits ?

And who is more wicked than he who forgeth a lie against
God, or saith His signs are lies ? Surely the sinners
shall not prosper !

And they worship beside God that which cannot hurt
them or help them ; and they say, ‘‘These shall be our
pleaders with God.”’ Say : Will ye tell God of any-
thing He doth not know in the heavens and in the
earth ? Extolled be His glory ! and far be He above
what they associate with Him!

Men were of only one religion : then they differed, and had
not a decree gone forth trom thy Lord, there had cer-
tainly been made a decision between them of that
whereon they differed.

And they say, ‘‘Had a sign been sent down to him from
his Lord...’’—but say : The unseen is with God
alone : wait, therefore : verily I am waiting with you.

And when we caused men to taste of mercy after affliction
had touched them, behold ! they have a plot against
our signs ! Say : God is quick at plotting ! verily our
messengers write down what ye plot.

He it is who maketh you journey by land and sea, until,
when ye are in ships—and they run with them before
a fair wind, and they rejoice thereat, there cometh
upon them a violent wind, and the waves come upon
them from every side, and they suppose they are sore
pressed therewith ; they call on God, offering Him
sincere religion :—‘‘Do thou but deliver us from this,
and we will indeed be of the thankful.”

But when we have delivered them, lo, they transgress un-
justly on the earth! O ye people! ye wrong you

JONAH 105:

own souls only for the enjoyment of the life of this
world : then to us shall ye return ; and we will tell you
what ye have done.

The likeness of the life of this world is as the water which
we send down from the heaven, and there mingleth
with it the produce of the earth of which men and
cattle eat, untill when the earth hath put on its
blazonry and is arrayed, and its inhabitants think it
is they who ordain it, our command cometh to it by
night or day, and we make it mown down, as if it
had not teemed yesterday! Thus do we explain our
signs to a reflecting folk.

And God calleth you unto the abode of peace: and guideth
whom He will into the straight way :

To those who have done well, weal and to spare,

Neither blackness shall cover their faces nor shame ! these
are the inmates of Paradise, to abide therein for
ever. |

And as for those who have earned evil, the recompense of
evil ts its like ; shame shall cover them—no defender
shall they have against God—as though their faces
were darkened with the gloom of night : these are the
inmates of the Fire to abide therein for ever.

And on the day we will gather them all together, then will
we say to those who made Partners with God, ‘‘To
your place, ye and your Partners !’’ and we will
Separate between them ; and their partners shall say,
“Ye worshipped not us,

And God is witness enough between us and you that we:
were indifferent to your worship !”

Then shall every soul make proof of what it hath sent on
before, and they shall be brought back to God their

“106 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

true Master, and what they devised shall vanish from
them.

Say : Who provideth you from the heaven and the earth ?
who is king over hearing and sight? and who bringeth
forth the living from the dead and bringeth forth the
dead from the living? and who ruleth all things ?
And they shall say, ‘‘God:” then say: Do ye not
fear ?

So that is God your true Lord: and after the truth, what
is there but error? How then are ye turned away ?

Thus is the word of thy Lord fulfilled upon those who
work iniquity : they shall not believe.

Say : Is there any of the Partners [of God] who can pro-
duce a creature, then bring it back again ? Say : God
produceth a creature then bringeth it back again:
how then are ye deceived ?

“Say: Is there any of the Partners who guideth to the
truth ? Say: God guideth unto the truth. Is he who
guideth to the truth the worthier to be followed, or he
who guideth not except he be guided ? What is in you
so to judge ?

And most of them only follow a fancy: but a fancy pro-
fiteth nothing against the truth! verily God knoweth
what they do.

Moreover this Qur’an could not have been devised with-
out God: but it confirmeth what preceded it, and ex-
plaineth the Scripture—there is no doubt therein—
from the Lord of the worlds.

‘Do they say, ‘‘He hath devised it himself?’ Say: Then
bring a chapter like it: and call on whom ye can be-
side God, if ye be speakers of truth.

Nay, they call all that a lie, of which they compass not the

JONAH oak 107

knowledge, though the explanation of it hath not yet
been given them; so did those who were before them
call the Scriptures lies : but see what was the end of
the wicked !

And some of them believe in it, and some of them be-
lieve not in it. But thy Lord knoweth best about the
evildoers.

And if they call thee a liar, say, I have my work, and ye
have your work: ye are clear of what I work, and I
am clear of what ye work.

And some of them hearken to thee; but canst thou make
the deaf hear if they have no wits ?

And some of them regard thee ; but canst thou guide the
blind when they see not ?

Verily God doth not wrong man a whit, but men wrong
themselves.

And on a day He will gather them, as though they had
tarried but an hour of the day : they shall know one
another! They are lost who denied the meeting with
God and were not guided !

Whether we show thee part of what we threatened against
them, or weather we take thee to ourself [before], to
us is their return—then shall God be witness of what
they have done.

And every nation hath its apostle ; and when their apostle
is come, it is decided between them with equity, and
they are not wronged.

Yet they say, ‘When will this promise be, if ye be speakers
of truth 7°’

Say: I have no power for myself for woe or weal, except
as God pleaseth. Every people hath its appointed
term : when their term is come, they shall not put it
off nor hasten it an hour.

108 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Say: Bethink ye, if the torment of God come upon you
by night or by day, what portion of it will the sinners
willingly hasten on ?

When it happeneth, will you believe it then? Yet would
ye fain hasten it on!

Then shall it be said to those who transgressed, ‘“‘Taste ye
the torment of eternity! Shall ye be rewarded save
according to what ye have earned ?”’

They would fain know of thee if this is true. Say: Yea,
by my Lord, it is indeed true, and ye cannot weaken
Him.

And it every soul that transgressed owned all that is on
earth, he would assuredly give it in ransom; and they
will declare their repentance when they have seen the
torment : and there shall be a decision between them
with equity, and they shall not be wronged.

Is not indeed whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth
God’s ? Is not indeed the promise of God true? But
most of them do not know!

He giveth life and death, and to Him shall ye return.

O ye people ; now hath a warning come to you from your
Lord, and a healing for what is in your breasts, and a
guidance and a mercy to the believers.

Say : By the grace of God and his mercy! And in that
let them therefore rejoice: this is better than what
they heap up.

Say : Do ye consider what God hath sent down to you for
provision : but ye made thereof unlawful and lawful ?
Say, did God permit you? or do ve forge against
God ?

But what will they think on the day of resurrection who
forge a lie against God ? Truly God is full of bounty
towards man; but most of them are not thankful.

JONAH 109

Thou shall not be in any business, and thou shalt not read
from the Qur’an, and ye shall not do any deed, but
we are witness against you when ye are engaged
therein; and there escapeth not thy Lord and ant’s
weight in earth or in heaven: and there is nothing
jesser or greater than that, but it is in the plain
Book.

Are not they truly the friends of God on whom is no fear
neither are they sorrowful—

They who believed and feared God,—

For them are good tidings in the life of this world, and in
the life to come there is no changing in God’s senten-
ces. TIhatis the great prize!

And let not their discourse grieve thee : verily all power
belongeth to God, He it is who heareth and knoweth.

Doth not whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the
earth belong to God? then what do they follow who
call upon Partners beside God? verily they follow but
a fancy; and verily they are naught but liars.

It is He who made you the night to rest in, and the day
for seeing : verily in that are signs to a folk that can
hear !

They say, ‘‘God hath taken him a son.”’ Extolled be his
glory! He is the Self-sufficient, all that is in the
heavens, and all that is in the earth is his! ye have
no warranty for this ! do ye say about God that which
ye know not ?”

Say: Verily they who forge this lie against God shall not
prosper :—

A passing joy in this world, then to us : they return; and
then we will make them taste the gtievous torment,
because they did not believe.

110 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

And tell them the story of Noah, when he said to his
people,—‘‘O my people! though my dwelling with
you and my warning you of the signs of God hath
been grievous to you, yet in God do I put my trust:
so gather together your case and your Partners : then
will not your case fall upon you in the dark: then
decide about me and delay not.

And if ye turn, yet ask I no reward from you : my reward
is with God alone, and I am commanded to be of
those who are resigned.”’

But they called him a liar, so we delivered him and those
who were with him in the ship, and we made them to
survive ; and we drowned those who had called our
signs lies: see then what was the end of those who
were warned !

Then after him, we sent apostles to their people, and they
came to them with manifestations: but they would
not believe in what they had denied before: thus do.
we put a seal upon the hearts of the transgressors.

Then sent we, after them, Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh
and his nobles with our signs: but they were puffed
up and were a sinful folk.

And when the truth came to them from us, they said,
*‘This is clear sorcery indeed.’’

Moses said, ‘“‘Say ye of the truth when it is come to you,
is this sorcery ?—but sorcerers shall not prosper.”’

They said, ‘Art thou come to us to hinder us from what
we found our fathers in, and in order that for your
twain there shall be majesty in the land ? but we are
not going to believe in you !”

And Pharaoh said, ‘‘Fetch me every wise sorcerer.’ And
when the sorcerers, came, Moses said to them, ‘‘Cast
down what ye have to cast.”’

And when they had cast them down, Moses said, ‘‘What

JONAH SBE

ye come with is sorcery: verily God will make it
vain; aye, God doth not prosper the work of evil
ee

And God will establish the truth by his word, though loth
be the sinners.

And none believed in Moses but the children of his own
folk, for fear of Pharaoh and his nobles, lest he should
afflict them: for of a truth Pharaoh was mighty in
the earth, and verily he was of the transgressors.

And Moses said, ‘‘O my people ! if ye believe in God, put
your trust in Him, if ye are resigned.”

And they said, ‘‘In God do we put our trust. O our Lord,
make us not atrial to the folk of the wicked,

And deliver us in Thy mercy from the folk of the unbe-
lievers.””

Then revealed we to Moses and to his brother: ‘‘Build
houses for your people in Egypt, and make your
houses with a Qibla, and perform prayer, and give
good tidings to the believers.”

And Moses said, ‘‘Our Lord, thou hast indeed given to.
Pharaoh and his nobles adornments and riches in the
life of this world: O our Lord! may they err from
thy way; O our Lord! confound their riches, and
harden their hearts, so shall they not believe until
they see the aching torment.”’

God said: ‘“‘Your prayer is heard, then stand ye upright,
and follow not the path of those who know not.”’
And we brought the Children of Israel across the sea; and
Pharaoh and his host followed them, eager and
hostile. until when drowning overtook him he said, ‘I
believe that there is no god but He in whom the
Children of Israel believe, and I am one of the

resigned.”

“Now ! thou hast been rebellious aforetime, and wast one

12 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

of the evildoers,

This day will we raise thee in thy flesh, to be a sign to
those who come after thee: but verily many men are
heedless of our signs !”’

Moreover we lodged the Children of Israel in a firm
abode, and provided them with good things : and they
did not differ until the knowledge came to them;
verily thy Lord will decide between them on the Day
of Resurrection concerning that on which they
differed.

And if thou art in doubt of what we have sent downto

_ thee, inquire of those who read the Scriptures before

thee. Now hath truth came unto thee from thy Lord:
then be not thou of those who doubt.

Neither be of those who deny the signs of God lest thou
be among the losers.

Verily they against whom the word of thy Lord is passed
shall not believe,—

Though there came unto them every kind of sign,—till
they behold the aching torment.

Else any city had believed, and its faith had benefited
it:—save the people of Jonah; when they believed,
we took away from them the torment of shame in the
life of the world, and provided for them awhile.

But if thy Lord pleased, verily all who are in the earth had
believed together. Then canst thou compel men to
become believers ?

It is in a soul to believe but by the permission of God:

and He shall lay His curse on those who have no
Wits,

Say: Look upon that which is in the heavens and in the
earth ; but signs and warners avail not a folk that will
not bleieve !

JONAH 113

What then can they expect but the like of the days of
those who passed away before them? Say: Wait
ye,—I too am waiting with you.

Then will we deliver our apostles and those who believe:
thus is it binding on us to deliver the faithful.

Say : O ye people! if ye are in doubt of my religion, I do
not worship those whom ye worship beside God ; but
I worship God, who taketh you away ; and Iamcom-
manded to be of the faithful.

And set thy face towards religion as a Hanif, and be not
of those idolaters :

And invoke not beside God that which can neither help
nor hurt; for it thou do, thou wilt certainly be of the
wicked.

And if God touch thee with affliction, there is none to re-
move it but He. And if He desire thy good, there is
none to hinder His bounty—He will confer it on
whom He pleaseth of his servants : and He is the For-
giving, the Merciful !

Say: O ye people! now hath truth come unto you from
your Lord ; then he who is guided, is guided only for
his own behoof: but he who erreth doth err only
against himself; and I am no governor over you!

And follow what is revealed to thee: and be patient till
God judgeth ; and He is the best of judges.

(x.)

114 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

THE THUNDER

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Mercifal

1 4.2.. Lnese are the Signs of the Book! and that
which was sent down to thee from thy Lord is the
truth : but most men do not believe.

It is God who raised the heavens without pillars that ye
can see; then ascended the Throne, and subdued the
sun and the moon: each runneth to its appointed
goal, to rule every thing, to manifest signs. Haply ye
will be convinced of meeting your Lord!

And it is He who spread out the earth, and put thereon
firm mountains, and rivers; and of every fruit He
hath made therein two kinds: He maketh the night to
cover the day; verily in that are signs for reflecting
folk.

And on the earth are neighbouring tracts, and gardens of
grapes, and corn, and palms clustered and not cluster-
ed at the root; they are watered by the same water,
yet we make some better than others for food: verily
in that are signs for folk that have wits.

If ever thou dost wonder, wonderful is their saying,
‘sWhat ! when we have become dust, shall we indeed
become a new creation ?”

These are they who disbelieve in their Lord : and these
shall have the shackles on their necks, and these shall
be the inmates of the fire to abide therein for ever.

They will bid thee hasten evil rather than good : examples
have passed away before them; and verily thy Lord
is full of forgiveness unto men despite theis iniquity ;.

THE THUNDER | 115

and verily thy Lord is heavy in punishing.

And they who disbelieve say “‘Unless a sign be sent down
to him from his Lord...’ Thou art but a warner,
and to every people its guide.

God knoweth what every woman breath, and the decrease
of the wombs and the increase: for the pattern of all
things is with Him,

Who knoweth the hidden and the seen, the Great, the
Most High.

Equal is he of you who concealeth his words and he that
Proclaimeth them: he how hideth by night, and he
who goeth abroad by day.

Fach hath angels before him and behind him, who watch
over him by God’s command. Verily God doth not
change towards a people, till they change themselves ;
and when God willeth evil unto a people, there is no
averting it, nor have they protector beside Him.

It is He who showeth you the lightning for fear and hove
[of rain], and gathereth the lowering clouds.

And the Thunder magnifieth His praise, and the angels,
for awe of Him, and He sendeth His thunderboits
and smiteth therewith whom He pleaseth :—and they
are wrangling about God ! but strong is His might!

Unto Him is the true cry : but those whom they cry to be-
side Him shall answer them naught save as one who
stretcheth forth his hands to the water that it may
reach his mouth, but it doth not reach it ! The cry of
the unbelievers is but in error.

And unto God bow down all things in the beavens and
the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and their shadows
at morn and eve!

Say: Who is Lord of the heavens. and the earth ? Say:

116 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

God. Say: Why then have ye taken beside Him
Patrons who are powerless for weal or woe to them-
selves? Say: What! are the blind and the seeing
alike? or are darkness and light the same ? or have
they made Partners for God, who create as He
creates, So tiiat they confuse the creation ? Say : God
is the Creator of all things, He is the One, the Con-
queror.

He sendeth down water from heaven; and the valleys flow
in their degree, and the torrent beareth along foam-
ing forth, and from the [ore] which they burn in the
fire, desiring ornaments or necessaries, a scum like it
ariseth. So doth God liken truth and falsehood. As
to the scum it passeth off as refuse, and as to what
profiteth man it remaineth on the earth. Thus doth
God frame parables. For those who respond to their
Lord, good ; but those who respond not to Him, had
they all that the earth containeth and its like beside
it, they would surely give it in ransom: these shall
have an evil reckoning, and Hell shall be their home,
—and wretched the bed !

Is he who knoweth that what hath been sent down to thee
from thy Lord is naught but the truth, like to him
who is blind; but men of understanding alone will
mind,

Who fulfil their covenant with God and break not the
compact ;

And who join what God hath bidden to be joined, and
who fear their Lord and dread the evil reckoning ;

And who are patient, seeking the face of their Lord, and
perform prayer and give alms secretly and openly of
what we have provided them, and turn away evil with
good : for these is the reward of the Abode,—

Gardens of eternity, into which they shall enter together

THE THUNDER 117

with those who were just of their fathers and their
wives and their offspiring : and the angels shall go in
unto them at every gate [saying] :—

“Peace be upon you! because ye were patient.’? And
pleasant is the reward of the Abode!

But those who break God’s covenant after they have
pledged it, and cut asunder what God hath bidden to
be joined, and work iniquity in the earth, for these is
a curse and a sore abode !

God is lavish with provision to whom He pleaseth, or He
stinteth it. And they rejoice in the life of this world;
but the life of this world is but a passing joy to the
life to come.

And they who disbelieve say, “Unless a sign be sent down
to him from his Lord...” Say: God truly mis-
leadeth whom He will; and He guideth to himself
those who repent,

Who believe, and whose hearts are at peace in the remem:
brance of God ! yea, in the remembrance of God shall
the hearts be at peace of those who believe and do
the things that are right—good betide them, and
happy be their goal!

Thus have we sent thee among a nation, before whom
other nations have passed away, that thou mayest
tell them what we have inspired thee with: yet they
disbelieve in the Merciful! Say: He is my Lord—
there is no god but Him. In Him dol put my trust,
and unto Him is my return. ;

Though there were a Quran by which the mountains were
removed or the earth cloven or the dead given speech
—Nay ! to God belongeth the rule in all: know not
they who believe, that if God pleased, He would cer-
tainly have guided men in all ?

118 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

And calamity shall not cease to befal the unbelievers for
what they have done, or settle hard by their dwel-
lings, until the promise of God shall come to pass.
Verily God will not fail in what He promised.

Before thee apostles have been mocked at—and long I
suffered those who disbelieved; then I took hold of
them ; and how great was my punishment!

Who then is he that is standing over every soul to mark
what it hath earned? Yet they made Partners with
God! Say: Name them! could ye inform him of
what He knoweth not in the earth, or are they aught
beyond words? Nay, their artifice commended itself
to those who disbelieve ; and they are turned aside
from the road; and whom God misleadeth, he hath
no guide.

Torment is theirs in the life of his world, and assuredly
the torment of the world to come shall be worse, and
they shall have no one toward them for God.

A likeness of the Paradise which is promised to those that
fear God :—The rivers flow beneath it ; its food and its
shades are everlasting. That is the end of those who
fear God : but the end of the unbelievers is the Fire.

They to whom we have given the Book rejoice in what
hath been sent down to thee, yet some of the con-
federates deny a part of it. Say: Iam commanded
only to worship God, and not to associate any with
Him: on Him I cry, and unto Him is my goal.

Thus have we sent down the Qur’an as an Arabic judg-
ment: and assuredly, if thou followed their desires
after the knowledge had come to thee, thou shouldst
have no protector nor warder against God.

And we have sent apostles before thee, and gave them

THE THUNDER 119

wives and offspring. But to no aposule was it given
to bring a sign save by God’s permission: to each age
its Book.

‘God wipeth out or confirmeth what He pleaseth, and with
Him is the Mother of the Book.

And whether we show thee somewhat of that which we
promised them, or take thee hence before; verily, it is
thine to announce only, and ours to take account.

See they not that we come into the land and cut down its
chiefs ?. And when God judgeth, there is none to re-
verse His sentence: and He is swift to reckon.

And those who were before them plotted : but God’s is the
master plot : He knoweth what every one soul earneth,
and the infidels shall know for whom is the reward of
the abode.

And those who disbelieve shall say, ‘‘Thou art nor sent
from God.”’ Say : God is witness enough between me
and you, and he that hath knowledge of the book.

(xili.)

THE SPEECHES AT MEDINA

THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE
Ach, 35209

A.H. 1-l11=a.D. 622—632

DECEPTION 123

DECEPTION

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ALL that is in the heavens, and all that is in the earth,
magnifieth God: His is the kingdom, His is the
praise, and He is powerful over all things.

It is He who hath created you ; and one of you is an un-
believer, and another a believer; and God seeth what
ye do.

He created the heavens and the earth in truth; and He
hath fashioned you and made goodly your forms;
and to Him is your journeying.

He knoweth what is in the heavens and the earth; and
He knoweth what ye hide and what ye manifest ; and
God knoweth well the secrets of the breast.

Hath not the story come to you of those who disbelieved
aforetime, and tasted the evil fruit of their doings,
and received an aching torment ?

That was because when their apostles had come to them
with manifestations, they said, ‘‘Shall mortal men
guide us?” And they believed not and turned their
backs. But God had no need of them; and God is
Self-sufficient and worthy to be praised !

The unbelievers pretend that they shall by no means be
raised again. Say : Nay, by my Lord, but ye shall be
raised ; then shall ye certainly be told of what ye have
done : and that is easy with God.

Believe then in God and His Apostle, and in the light
which we have sent down; for God knoweth perfectly
what ye do.

124 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

The day when He shall gather you together for the Day of
Assembly, that is the day of Deception. And whoso
believeth in God and doeth that which is right, God
shall take away his sins, and He will bring him into
the gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell there
evermore: that is the great prize!

But those who believe not, but deny our signs—those shall
be the inmates of the fire, to dwell therein for ever;
and evil is their journey.

There happeneth no misfortune but by God’s permission;
and whoso believeth in God, He guideth his heart ;
and God knoweth all things.

Obey God, therefore, and obey the Apostle; but if ye
turn away, our Apostle is only charged with a plain
message :—

God, there is no god but He! Then in God let the faith-
ful trust.

O ye who believe ! verily in your wives and your children
ye have an adversary, wherefore beware of them. But
if ye relent and pradon and forgive, then verily God
too is Forgiving and Merciful.

Your wealth and your children are but a snare: but God,
with Him is the great reward.

Then fear God with all your might, and hear and obey,
and give alms for your own sakes; and whoso is
saved from his own covetousness,—these it is who
prosper.

If ye lend God a good loan, He will double it to you, and
will forgive you: for God is Grateful, Mild,

Knowing the secret and the open ; the Mighty, the Wise!

(Ixiv.)

IRON | Was

IRON
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

ALL that is in the heavens and the earth magnifieth God,
and He is the Mighty, the Wise.

His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, He
giveth life and giveth death, and He is powerful over
all things.

He is the first and the last. the seen and the unseen, and
all things doth He know.

It is He who created the heavens and the carn 1 51x
days, then ascended the Throne ; He knoweth what
goeth into the earth and what cometh out of it, and
what cometh down from the sky and what riseth up
into it; and Heis with you, wherever ye be ; and God
seeth what ye do.

His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and to
God shall all things return.

He maketh the night to follow the day, and He maketh
the day to follow the night, and He knoweth the
secrets of the breast.

Believe in God and His apostle, and give alms of what He
hath made you to inherit ; for to those of you who
believe and give alms shall be a great reward.

What aileth you that ye do not believe in God and His
Apostle who calleth you to believe in your Lord ?
He hath already accepted your covenant if ye be-
lieve.

It is He who hath sent down to His servant manifest

126 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

signs to lead you from darkness into light : for God
is indeed kind and merciful towards you.

And what aileth you that ye give not alms in the path of
God, when God’s is the heritage of the heavens and
the earth ? Those of you who give before the victory,
and fight, shall not be deemed equal,—they are of
nobler degree than those who give afterwards and
fight. Yet to all hath God promised the beauteous
reward ; and God knoweth what ye do.

Who is he who will lend God a good loan ?—He will
double it for him, and his shall be a noble recom-
pense.

The day ye shall see the faithful, men and women, their
light running in front and on their right hand—‘‘Glad
tidings for you this day '—gardens whereunder rivers
flow, to abide therein for ever :’’ that is the great
prize !

The day when the hypocrites, men and women, will say
to those who believe, “Stay for us, that we may
kindle our light from yours.” It shall be said, ‘“‘Go
back and find a light.” And there shall be set up
between them a wall, with a gate in it ; and inside,
within it, shall be Mercy, and outside, in front of it,
Torment! They shall cry out, “Were we not with
you ?”” The others shall say, “Yea! but ye fell into
temptation, and waited, and doubted, and your
desires deceived you, till the behest of God came,—
and the arch-tempter beguiled you from God.”’

And on that day no ransom all shall be accepted from you,
nor from those who disbelieved—your goal is the
Fire, which is your master ; and evil is the journey
thereto.

Hath not the Hour come to those who believe, to humble

IRON 127

their hearts to the warning of God and the truth
which He hath sent down ? and that they may not be
like those who received the Scripture aforetime,
whose lives were prolonged, but their hearts were
hardened. and many of them were disobedient.

Know that God quickeneth the earth after its death : now
have we made clear to you the signs,—haply ye have
wits !

Verily the charitable, both men and women, and they who
lend God a good loan, it shall be doubled to them,
and theirs shall be a noble recompense.

And they who believe in God and His Apostle, these are
the truth-tellers and the witnesses before their Lord:
they have their reward and their light. And they
who disbelieve and deny our signs—these are the
iamates of Hell !

Know that the life of this world is but a game and
pastime and show and boast among you; and
multiplying riches and children is like rain, whose
vegetation delighteth the infidels—then they wither
away, and thou seest them all yellow, and they
become chaff. And in the life to come is grievous
torment,

Or else forgiveness from God and His approval : but the
life of this world is naught but a delusive joy.

Strive together for forgiveness from your Lord and
Paradise, whose width is as the width of heaven and
earth, prepared for those who believe in God and in
His Apostle. That is the grace of God ! who giveth
it to whom He pleaseth ; and God is the fount of
boundless grace.

There happeneth no misfortune on the earth or to your-
selves, but it is written in the Book before we created
it : verily that is easy to God !—

128

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

That ye may not grieve over what is beyond you, nor

exult over what cometh to you ; for God loveth nor
any presumptuous boasters,

Who are covetous and commend covetousness to men.

But whoso turneth away,—verily God is Rich and
worthy to be praised.

We sent Our Apostles with manifestations, and We sent

down by them the Book and the Balance, that men
might stand upright in equity, and We sent down
Iron, wherein is great strength and uses for men,—
and that God might know who would help Him and
His Apostles in secret: verily God is strong and
mighty.

And we sent Noah and Abraham, and we gave their seed

prophecy in the Scripture: and some of them are
guided, but many are disobedient.

Then we sent our apostles in their footsteps, and we sent

Jesus the Son of Mary, and gave him the Gospel,
and put in the hearts of those that follow him
kindness and pitifulness ; but monkery, they invented
it themselves ! We prescribed it not to them—save
only to seek the approval of God, but they did not
observe this with due observance. Yet we gave their
reward to those of them that believed, but many of
them were tramsgressors.

‘O ye who believe, fear God and believe in His Apostle ;

He will give you a light to walk by, and will forgive
you : for God is forgiving and merciful :—

That the People of the Scripture may know that they have

not power over aught of God’s grace ; and that grace
is in the hands of God alone, who giveth to whom
He pleaseth ; and God is the fount of boundless
grace. |

(Ivii.)

THE VICTORY 129

THE VICTORY
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

VERILY we have won for thee a clear Victory—

That God may forgive thee thy former and latter sins,
and fulfil His Grace to thee, and guide thee on the
Straight way,

And that God may help thee mightily.

He it is who sent down peace into the hearts of the
faithful, to strengthen their faith with faith (for
God’s are the armies of the heavens and the earth,
and God is All-knowing and Wise) :

To bring the faithful, men and women, into gardens
beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever,
and to take away their offences ; and that is the great
prize with God:

And to torment the hypocrites and the idolaters, men and
women, who think of God an evil thought! there
shall come upon them a turn of evil, and God is
worth with them and hath cursed them, and hath
prepared Hell for them, and evil shall be their
journey.

God’s are the armies of the heavens and the earth, and
God is Mighty and Wise!

Verily we have sent thee as a witness and a herald of
gladness and a warner,

That ye may believe in God and in His Apostle ; and may
revere Him, and honour Him, and magnify him
morning and evening.

130 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

In truth, they who swear fleaty to thee, do but swear
fealty to God: the hand of God is upon their hands!
Whosoever therefore breaketh it, breaketh it only to
his own hurt; but whosoever is true to what he
hath covenanted with God, He will give him a great
reward.

The Arabs of the desert who were left behind will say to
thee, ‘‘Our property and our families employed us;
so ask pardon for us.’ They speak with their
tongues what is not in their hearts. Say: But who
can obtain aught for you from God, if He design for
you harm, or design for you benefit? Nay, God is
acquainted with what ye do!

Nay, ye thought that the Apostles and the faithful would
not come back to their families any more, and that
seemed good in your hearts, and ye thought an evil
thought, and ye are a lost people.

And whosoever believeth not in God and His Apostle....
verily we have made ready a flame for the un-
believers !

And God’s is the kingdom of the heavens and of the
earth; He forgiveth whom He will, and He tor-
menteth whom He will: and God is Forgiving,
Merciful!

They who were left behind will say when ye go forth to
the spoil to take it, ‘‘Let us follow you.”’ They
would fain change the Word of God. Say: Ye shall
by no means follow us; thus hath God said already.
Then they will say, ‘‘Nay, ye are jealous of us,’ Nay,
they are men of but little understanding.

Say to those who were left behind of the Arabs of the

- desert, Ye shall be called out against a people of
mighty valour; ye shall fight with them, or they shall

THE THUNDER 1st

profess Islam. If, therefore, ye obey, God will bring
you a goodly reward ; but if ye turn your backs as ye
turned your backs before, He will torment you with
aching torment.

For the blind it is no crime, and for the lame no crime,
and for the sick no crime [to turn the back.] And
whoso obeyeth God and His Apostle He shall bring
him into gardens whereunder rivers flow: but whoso
turneth his back, He will torment him with aching
torment.

Well-pleased was God with the believers, when they sware
fealty to thee under the tree ; and He knew what was
in their hearts: therefore did He send down tran-
quillity upon them, and rewarded them witha victory
near at hand,

And many spoils to take, for God is Mighty and Wise!

God promised you many spoils to take, and sped this for
you ; (and He held back men’s hands from you, that
it might be a sign to the faithful, and that He might
guide you on the straight way) :

And other spoils which ye could not take: but now hath
God compassed it, for God is powerful over all. ,

If the unbelievers had fought against you, they would
assuredly have turned their backs; then would they
have met with no protector or helper. ms

This is God’s way which prevailed before : and no chang-
ing wilt thou find in God’s way.

And He it was who held back their hands from you, and
your hands from them, in the valley of Mekka, after
that He had given you the victory over them; for
God ever seeth what ye do. .

These are they who believed not, and kept you away from
the Sacred Mosque, as well as the offering, which was

132 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

prevented from reaching its destination. And but
for the faithful men and women, whom ye did not
know and might have trampled, so that guilt might
have lighted on you on their account without your
knowledge, that God might bring whom He pleased
into His mercy; had they been separate, we had
surely punished the unbelievers among them with a
grievous torment.

When the unbelievers had put disdain in their hearts,—
the disdain of ignorance,—God sent down His tran-
quility on} His Apostle and the faithful, and fixed
firmly in them the word of piety, for they were most
worth and fit for it, and God well knoweth all
things.

Now hath God spoken truth to His Apostle in the night
vision: ‘‘Ye shall surely enter the Sacred Mosque,
if God please, safe, with shaven heads, or hair cut;
ye shall not fear, for He knoweth what ye do not
know ; and He hath ordained yeu, besides that, a
victory near at hand.”

It is He who hath sent his Apostle with the guidance and
the religion of truth, to make it triumph over every
religion ; and God is witness enough !

Muhammad is the Apostle of God, and those of his party
are vehement against the infidels, but compassionate
to one another. Thou mayest see them bowing down,
worshipping, seeking grace from God, and His
approval ; their tokens are on their faces—the traces
of their prostrations. This is their likeness in the
Torah, and their likeness in the Gospel, like a seed
which putteth forth its stalk, and strengtheneth it,
and it groweth stout, and standeth up upon its stem,
rejoicing the sowers—to anger unbelievers thereby.

THE VICTORY 133

To those among them who believe, and do the things
that are right, God hath promised forgiveness and a
mighty reward.

(xlviil.)

134 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

HELP

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

WHEN the HELP of God and victory come,

And thou seest the people entering the religion of God in
troops ;

Then magnify the praise of thy Lord, and seek forgiveness
of Him; verily He is ever relenting.

(cXx.)

THE LAW

GIVEN AT MEDINA

RELIGIOUS LAW Loa

, i

RELIGIOUS LAW

IT is not righteousness that ye turn your face towards the
east or the west, but righteousness is [in] him who believeth
in God and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the
Scripture, and the Prophets, and who giveth wealth for the
love of God to his kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy
and the son of the road and them that ask and for the
freeing of slaves, and who is instant in prayer, and giveth
the alms; and those who fulfil their covenant when they
covenant, and the patient in adversity and affliction and in
time of violence, these are they who are true, and these are
they who fear God.—ii. 172.

Say: We believe in God, and what hath been sent down
to thee, and what was sent down to Abraham, and Ishmael,
and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and what was given to
Moses, and to Jesus, and the prophets from their Lord,—we
make no distinctien between any of them,—and to Him are
we resigned: and whoso desireth other than Resignation
[Islam] for a religion, it shall certainly not be accepted from
him, and in the life to come he shall be among the losers.—
iit./ 6, fo.

Observe the prayers, and the middle prayer, and stand
instant before God. And if ye fear, them afoot or mounted :
but when ye are safe remember God, who he taught you
what ye did not know.—ii. 239, 240.

When the call to prayer soundeth on the Day of
Congregating (Friday), then hasten to remember God, and
abandon business ; that is better for you if ye only knew:
and when prayer is done, disperse in the land and seek of
the bounty of God—Ixii. 9, 10.

138 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Turn thy face towards the Sacred Mosque ; wherever ye
be, turn your faces thitherwards.—1i. 139.

Give alms on the path of God, and let not your hands
cast you into destruction; but do good, for God loveth
those who do good ; and accomplish the pilgrimage and the
visit to God: but if ye be besieged, then [send] what ts
easiest as an offering.—ii. 191.

They will ask thee what it is they must give in alms.
Say: Let what good ye give be for parents, and kinsfolk,
and the orphan, and the needy, and the son of the road;
ann what good ye do, verily God knoweth it.—it. 211

They will ask thee what they shall expend in alms ; say,
The surplus.—ii. 216.

If ve give alms openly, it is well; but if ye conceal it,
and give it to the poor, it is better for you, and will take
away from you some of your sins: and God knoweth what
ye do.—li. 273.

O ye who believe, make not your alms of no effect by
taunts and vexation, like him who spendeth what he hath to
be seen of men, and believeth not in God andthe Last
Day: for his likeness is as the likeness of a stone, with
earth upon it, and a heavy rain falleth upon it and leaveth
it bare; they accomplish nothing with what they earn, for
God guideth not the people that disbelieve. And the
likeness of those who expend their wealth for the sake of
pleasing God and for the certainty of their souls is as the
likeness of a garden on a hill: a heavy rain falleth on it
and it bringeth forth its fruit twofold ; and if no heavy rain
falleth on it, then the dew falleth ; and God seeth what ye
do.—1i. 266, 207.

Kind speech and forgiveness is better than alms which
vexation followeth ; and God is rich and ruthful.—ii. 265.

O ye who believe, there is prescribed for you the fast as
it was prescribed for those before you; maybe ye will fear

RELIGIOUS LAW 139

God for a certain number of days, but he amongst you who
is sick or on a journey may fast a [like] number of other
days. And for those who are able to fast [and do not], the
expiation is feeding a poor man; but he who voluntarily
doeth a good act, it is better for him; and to fast is better
for you, if ye only know. The month of Ramadan, wherein
the Qur’dn was sent down for guidance to men, and for
proofs of the guidance, and the distinguishing fof good and
evil]; whoso amongst you seeth this month, let him fast it ;
but he who is sick or on a journey, a [like] number of other
days :—God wisheth for you what is easy, and wisheth not
for you what is difficult—that ye may fulfil the number
and magnify God, in that He hath guided you ;—and may
be ye will be thankful.—179-181.

Proclaim among the people a Pilgrimage: let them
come to thee on foot and on every fleet camel, coming by
every deep pass to be present at its benefits to them, and to
make mention of God’s name at the appointed days over
the beasts with which He hath provided them, then eat
thereof, and feed the poor and needy ; then let them end the
neglect of their persons, and pay their vows, and made the
circuit of the ancient House.—xxii. 28-30.

He only shall visit the Mosques of God who believeth
in God and the Last Day, and is instant in prayer, and
payeth the alms, and feareth God only.—ix. 18.

Do ye place the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the
visiting of the Sacred Mosque, on the same level with him
who believeth in God and the Last Day, and fighteth on
the path of God? They are not equa! in the sight of God.—
ix. 19

Fight in the path of God with those who fight with
you;—but exceed not; verily God loveth not those who
exceed.—And kill them wheresoever ye find them, and
thrust them out from whence they thrust you out; for

140 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

dissent is worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the
Sacred Mosque, unless they fight you there: but if they
fight you, then kill them; such is the reward of the infidels !
But if they desist, then verily God is forgiving and merciful.
—But fight them till there be no dissent, and the worship be
only to God ;—but, if they desist, then let there be no
hostility save against the transgressors.—ii. 186-189.

They will ask thee of the sacred month, and fighting
therein; say, Fighting therein is a great sin; but turning
people away from God’s path, and disbelief in Him and in
the Sacred Mosque, and turning His people out therefrom,
is a greater in God’s sight, and dissent is a greater sin than
slaughter.—ii. 214.

Forbidden to you is that which dieth of itself, and
blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which is dedicated to
other than God, and what is strangled, and what is killed by
a blow, or by falling, and what is gored, and what wild
beasts have preyed on—except what ye kill in time—and
What is sacrificed to idols ; and to divide by [the divination
of] arrows, that is transgression in you.—v. 4.

Make not God the butt of your oaths, that ye will be
pious and fear God, and make peace among men, for God
hearreth and knoweth.—ii. 224.

O ye who believe, verily wine and gambling and statues
and divining arrows are only an abomination of the devil’s
making : avoid them then; haply ye may prosper.—v. 92.

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW 141

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW

It is not for a believer to kill a believer, but by mistake ;
and whoso killeth a believer by mistake must free a be-
lieving slave ; and the blood-wit must be paid to his family,
unless they remit it in alms ; but if he be of a people hostile
to you, and yet a believer, then let him only free a believing
slave, and if it be a tribe between whom and you there is an
alliance, then let the blood-wit be paid to his family, and
let him free a believing slave ; but if he cannot find the
means, then let him fast for two consecutive months—a
penance from God : for God is all-knowing and wise. And
whoso killeth a believer on purpose, his reward is Hell, to
abide therein for ever, and God will be wroth with him, and
curse him, and prepare for him a mighty torment —iv. 24-
2D.

O ye who believe ! Retaliation is prescribed for you for
the slain: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the
woman for the woman, yet for him who is remitted aught
by his brother, shall be prosecution in reason, and payment
in generosity,—ii. 173.

He who slayeth a soul, unless it be for another soul, or
for wickedness in the land, is as though he had slain all
mankind ; and he who saveth a soul alive is as though he
bad saved the lives of all mankind.—v. 35.

The reward of those who was against God and His
apostle, and work evil in the earth, is but that they shall be
killed or crucified, or that their hands and feet shall be cut
off alternately, or that they shall be banished from the land
—that is their disgrace in this world, and in the next they
shall have a mighty torment.—v. 37. —

142 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

The man thief and the woman thief, cut off the hands of
both in requital for what they have done ; an example from
God, for God is mighty and wise.—v. 42.

They who devour usury shall not rise again, save as he
riseth whom the Devil hath smitten with his touch ; that is
because they say, ‘‘Selling is only like usury :”’ but God hath
allowed selling, and forbidden usury.—ii. 276. —

If ye fear that ye cannot do justice between orphans,
then marry such women as are lawful to you, by twos or
threes or fours; and if ye fear ye cannot be equitable, then
only one, or what [slaves } your right hands possess : thatis
the chief thing—that ye, be not unfair.—iv. 3.

Marry those of you who are single, and the good
among your servants, and your handmaidens. If they be
poor, God of his bounty will enrich them, and God is
liberal, wise. And let those who cannot find a match, live
in chustity, till God of His bounty shall enrich them.—xxiv.
a2.

Wed not idolatrous women until they believe, for surely
a believing handmaiden is better than an idolatress, although
she captivate you. And wed not idolaters until they believe,
for a believing slave is better than an idolater, although he
charm you.—i1. 220.

Divorce may be twice : then take them in reason or let
them go with kindness. It is not lawful for you to take
from them aught of what ye have given them, unless both
fear that they cannot keep God’s bounds. But if he divorce
her [a third time], she is not lawful to him afterwards, until
she marry another husband ; but if he also divorce her, it is
no crime in them both to come together again.—ii. 229,
230.

And for the divorced there should be a maintenance in
reason, a duty this on those who fear God.—ii. 242.

Against those of your women who commit adultery‘

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW 143

summon witnesses four in number from among you ; andif
these bear witness {to the crime], then keep the women in
houses till death release them, or God make a way for them.
—iv. 19.

They who slander chaste women, and bring not four
witnesses, scourge them with fourscore stripes, and receive
not their testimony for ever, for these are the transgressors :
—save those who afterwards repeat and do what is right—
for God is forgiving, merciful.—xxiv. 4.

It is prescribed for you that, when one of you is at the
point of death, if he leave property, the legacy is to his
parents and to his kindred in reason—a duty upon those
that fear God.—ii. 176.

God ordered you concerning your children: for a
male, the equal of the portion of two females, and if there
be more than two women, let them have two-thirds of what
[the deceased] hath left ; and if there be only one, then let
her have the half ; and for the parents, for each of them a
sixth of what he hath left, if he hath issue ; but if he hath
no issue, and his parents inherit, then let his mother havea
third : and if he hath brethren, let his mother have a sixth,
after payment of any bequest he may have bequeathed, or
debts. Your parents and your children, ye know not which
is the more helpful to you. An ordinance from God : verily
God is all-knowing and wise! And yours is half of what
your wives leave, if they have no issue ; but if they have
issue, then ye shall have a fourth of what they leave, after
payment of any bequests they may bequeath, or their debts;
and they shall bave a fourth of what ye leave, if ye have no
issue ; but if ye have issue, then let them have an eighth of
what ve leave, after paying of any bequest ye may bequeath,
or debts. And if the man’s or the woman’s heir be a
collateral kinsman, and he (or she) have a brother or a.
sister, then let each of these two have a sixth ; but if they’

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are more than that, let them share a third, after payment
of any bequests he may bequeath, or debts, without
prejudice ; an ordinance from God, and God is wise and
clement !

These are God’s statutes, and whoso obeyeth God and
the Apostle, He will bring him into gardens, whereunder
rivers flow, to abide therein for aye,—that is the great
prize! But whoso rebelleth against God and his Arostle,
and transgresseth His statutes, He will bring him into fire,
to dwell therein for aye ; and his shall be a shameful tor-
ment.—iv. 12-18.

Those of you who die and leave wives, should leave
their wives maintenance for a year. without driving them out
[from their homes] : but if they go out, there is no crime in
you for what they do for themselves in reason : and God is
mighty and wise.—1i. 241.

If a man perish and leave no issue, but leave a sister,
then hers is half of what he leaves, and he shall be her heir,
if she have no issue ; but if there be two sisters, let them
have two-thirds of what he leaves, and if there be brethren,
both men and women, let the male have the equal of the
portion of two females. God maketh this plain to you, lest
ye err ; and God knoweth all things.—iv. 176.

O ye who believe : stand fast by justice, bearing witness
before God, though it be against yourselves, or your parents,
or your kindred, whether it be rich or poor; for God is
worthier than they—iv. 134.

To those of your slaves who desire a deed [for buying
their freedom], write it for them, if ye know good in them,
and give them a portion of the wealth of God which He
hath given you.—xxiv. 33.

If any of the idolaters seek refuge with thee, grant him
refuge, that he may hear the word of God ; then let him
reach his place in safety.—ix. 6.

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW 145

God wisheth, to make it light for you, for man was
created weak,—iv. 32.

If ye shun great sins which ye are forbidden, we will
cover your offences, and make you enter Paradise with a
noble entrance.—iv. 35.

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WHEN God created the creation He wrote a book, which i,
near him upon the sovran Throne; and what is written in it
is this: Verily my compassion overcometh my wrath.

Say not, if people do good to us, we will do good to
them, and if people oppress us, we will oppress them : but
resolve that if people do good to you, you will do good to
them, and if they oppress you, oppress them not again.

God saith: Whose doth one good act, for him are ten
rewards, and I also give more to whomsoever I will; and
whoso doth ill, its retaliation is equal to it, or else I forgive
him ; and he who seeketh to approach me one cubit, I will
seek to approach him two fathoms; and he who walketh
towards me, I will run towards him; and he who cometh
before me with the earth full of sins, but joineth no Partner
to me, I will come before him with an equal front of for-
giveness.

There are seven people whom God will draw under His
own shadow, on that Day when there will be no other
shadow: one a just king; another, who hath employed
himself in devotion from his youth; the third, who fixeth
luis heart on the Mosque till he return to it ; tht fourth, two
men whose friendship is to please God, whether together or
separate ; the fifth, aman who remembereth God when he is
alone, and weepeth; the sixth, a man who is tempted by a
rich and beautiful woman, and saith, Verily I fear God!
the seventh, a man who hath given alms and concealed it

150 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

so that his left hand knoweth not what his right hand
doeth.

The most excellent of all actions is to befriend any one .
on God's account, and to be at enmity with whosoever is
the enemy of God.

Verily ye are in an age in which if ye abandon one-
tenth of what is ordered, ye will be ruined. After this a time
will come when he who shall observe one-tenth of what is
now ordered wil! be redeemed.

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Concerning Prayer

Angels come amongst you both night and day; then
those of the night ascend to heaven, and God asketh them
how they left His creatures: they say, We left them at
prayer, and we found them at prayer.

The rewards for the prayers which are performed by
people assembled together are double of those which are
said at home.

Ye must not say your prayers at the rising or the
setting of the sun: so when a limb of the sun appearerh,
leave your prayers until her whole orb is up: and when the
sun beginneth to set, quit your prayers until the whole orb
hath disappeared ; for, verily she riseth between the two
horns of the Devil.

No neglect of duty is imputable during sleep; for
neglect can only take place when one is awake: therefore,
when any of you forget your prayers, say them when ye
recollect.

When a Muslim performeth the ablution, it washeth
from his face those faults which he may havz cast his eyes
upon; and when he washeth his hands, it removeth the
faults they may have committed, and when he washeth his
feet, it dispelleth the faults towards which they may have
carried him : so that he will rise up in purity from the place
of ablution.

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Of Charity

When God created the earth, it begain to shake and
tremble ; then God created mountains, and put them upon
the earth, and the land became firm and fixed ; and the
angels were astonished at the hardness of the hills, and said,
“QO God. is there anything of thy creation harder than
hills 2??? and God said, ‘‘Yes, water is harder than the hills,
because it breaketh them?” Then the angel said, ‘‘O Lord,
is there anything of thy creation harder than water?’’ He
said, ‘‘Yes. wind overcometh water: it doth agicate it and
put it in motion.’’ They said, ‘‘O our Lord! is there
anything of thy creation harder than wind?’ He said,
“Yes, the children of Adam giving alms: those who give
with their right hand, and conceal from their left, overcome
all.”’

The liberal man is near the pleasure of God and is near
Paradise, which he shall enter into, and is near the hearts
of men as a friend, and he is distant from hell; but the
niggard is far from God’s pleasure and from paradise, and
far from the hearts of men, and near the Fire: and verily
a liberal uneducated man is more beloved by God thana
niggardly worshipper. |

A man’s giving in alms one piece of silver in his life
time is better for him than giving one hundred when about
to ‘die.

_ Think not that any good act is contemptible, though it
be but your brother’s coming to you with an open counten-
ance and good humour.

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There is alms for a man’s every joint, every day in
which the sun riseth; doing justice between two people is
alms ; and assisting a man upon his beast, and his baggage,
is alms; and pure words, for which are rewards; and
answering a questioner with mildness is alms. and every step
which is made towards prayer is alms, and removing that
which is an inconvenience to man, such as stones and
thorns, is alms.

The people of the Prophet’s house killed a goat, and
the Prophet said, “‘What remaineth of it?’ They said,
‘‘Nothing but the shoulder, for they have sent the whole to
the poor and neighbours, except a shoulder which re-
maineth.”” The Prophet said, ‘‘Nay, it is the whole goat that
remaineth except its shoulder: that remaineth which they
have given away, the rewards of which will be eternal, and
what remaineth in the house is fleeting.”

Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and free the captive if
he be unjustly bound.

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Of Fasting

A keeper of fasts, who doth not abandon lying and
slandering, God careth not about his leaving off eating and
drinking.

Keep fast and eat also, stay awake at night and sleep
also, because verily there is a duty on you to your body,
not to labour evermuch, so that ye may not get ill and
destroy yourselves; and verily there is a duty on you to
your eyes, ye must sometimes sleep and give them rest; and
verily there is a duty on you to your wife, and to your
visitors and guests that comes to see you; ye must talk to
them ; and nobody hath kept fast who fasted always; the
fast of three days in every month is equal to constant fast-
ing : then keep three days’ fast in every month.

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Of Reading the Qur’an

The state of a Muslim who readeth the Qur'an is like the
orange fruit, whose smell and taste are pleasant ; and that
of a Muslim who doth not read the Qur’an, is like a date
which hath no smell, but a sweet taste ; and the condition
of any hypocrite who doth not read the Qur’an is like the
colocynth which hath no smell, but a bitter taste ; and the
hypocrite who readeth the Qur’an is like the sweet bazil,
whose smell is sweet, but taste bitter.

Read the Qur’an constantly ; I swear by Him in the
hands of whose might is my life, verily the Qur'an runneth
away faster than a camel which is not tied by the leg.

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Of Labour and Profit

Verily the best things which ye eat are those which ye
earn yourselves or which your childern earn.

Verily it is better for one of you to take a rope and
bring a bundle of wood upon his back and sell it, in which
case God guardeth his honour, than to beg of people, |
whether they give him or not; if they do not give him, his
reputation suffereth and he returneth disappointed ; and. th
they give him, it is worse than that, for it layeth him under
obligations.

A man came to the Prophet, begging of him something,
and the Prophet said, “‘Have you nothing at home?” He
said, ‘‘Yes, there is a large carpet, with one part of which I
cover myself, and spread the other, and there is a wooden
cup in which I drink water.’ Then the Prophet said,
‘“‘Bring me the carpet and the cup.”” And the man brought
them, and the Prophet took them in his hand and said,
“Who will buy them? A man said, “I will take them at
one silver piece.” He said, ‘‘Who will give more?’ This
he repeated twice or thrice. Another man said, ‘‘I will take
them for two pieces of silver.”” Then the Prophet gave the
carpet and cup to that man, and took the two pieces of
silver, and gave them to the helper, and said, ‘‘Buy food
with one of these pieces, and yive it to your family, that
they may take it their sustenance for a few days; and buy
a hatchet with the other piece and bring it to me.” And the
man brought it ; and the Prophet put a handle to it with his
own hands and then said, ‘‘Go, cut wood, and sell it, and

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let me not see you for fifteen days.” Then the man went
cutting wood, and selling it; and he came to the Prophet,
when verily he had got ten pieces of silver, and he bought a
garment with part of it, and food with part. Then the
Prophet said, ‘“‘This cutting and selling of wood, and
making your livelihood by it, is better for you than coming
on the day of resurrection with black marks on your
face.

Acts of begging are scratches and wounds by which a
man woundeth his own face ; then he who wisheth to guard
his face from scratches and wounds must not beg, unless
that a man asketh from his prince, or in an affair in which
there is no remedy.

The Prophet hath cursed ten persons on account of
wine : one, the first extractor of the juice of the grape for
others ; the second for himself ; the third the drinker of it ;
the fourth the bearer of it ; the fifth the person to whom it
is brought ; the sixth the waiter ; the seventh the seller of
it ; the eighth the eater of its price ; the ninth the buyer of
it; the tenth that person who hath purchased it for an-
other.

Merchants shall be raised up liars on the Day of
Resurrection, except he who abstaineth from that which is
unlawful, and doth not swear falsely, but speaketh true in
the price of his goods.

The taker of interest and the giver of it, and the writer
of its papers and the witness to it, are equal in crime.

The holder of a monopoly is a sinner and offender.

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The bringers of grain to the city. to sell at a cheap rate
grain immense advantage by it, and he who keepeth back
grain in order to sell at a high rate is cursed.

He who desireth that God should redeem him from the
sorrows and difficulties of the Day of Resurrection, must
delay in calling on poor debtors, or forgive the debt in part
or whole.

A martyr shall be pardoned every fault but debt.

Whosoever has a thing with which to discharge a debt,
and refuseth to do it, it is right to dishonour and punish

him.

A bier was brought to the Prophet, to say prayers oves
it. He said, ‘Hath he left any debts ?” They said, “Yes.
He said, ‘‘Hath he left anything to discharge them 2” 4 poey

said, ‘‘No.’? The Prophet said, ‘‘We are his patron who has
been to protect him, paid that from official exchequer.

Give the labourer his wage before his perspiration be
dry.

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Of Fighting for the Faith

We came out with the Prophet, with a part of the army,
and a man passed by a cavern in which was water and
verdure, and he said in his heart, ‘‘I shall stay here, and
retire from the world.’”’ Then he asked the Prophet’s
permission to live in the cavern ; but he said, “‘Verily I have
not been sent on the Jewish religion, nor the Christian, to.
quit the delights of society ; but I have been sent on the
religion inclining to truth, and that which is easy, wherein
is no difficulty or austerity. I swear by God, in whose
hand is my life, that marching about morning and evening
to fight for religion is better than the world and everything
that is in it: and verily the standing of one of you in the
line of battle is better than supererogatory prayers perform-
ed in your house for sixty years.

When the Prophet sent an army out to fight, he would
say, March in the name of God and by His aid and on the
religion of the Messenger of God. Kill not the old man
who cannot fight, nor young children nor women ; and steal
not the spoils of war, but put your spoils together; and
quarrel not amongst yourselves, but be good to one another,
for God loveth the doer of good.

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Of Judgment

The first judgment that God will pass on man at the
Day of Resurrection will be for murder.

Whosoever throweth himself from the top of a moun-
tain and killeth himself is in Hell Fire for ever ; and
whosoever killeth himself with iron, his iron shall be in his
hand, and he will stab his belly with it in Hell Fire everlast-
ingly.

No judge must decide between two persons whilst he is
angry.

There is no judge who hath decided between men,
whether just or unjust, but will come to God’s court on the
Day of Resurrection held by the neck by an angel ; and the
angel will raise his head towards the heavens and wait for
God’s orders ; and if God ordereth to throw him into hell,
the angel will do it from a height of forty years’ journey.

Verily there will come on a just judge at the Day of
Resurrection such fear and horror, that he will wish, ‘Would
to God that I had not decided between two persons in a trial
for a single date’.

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Of Women and Slaves

The world and all things in it are valuable, but the
most valuable thing in the world is a virtuous woman.

I have not left any calamity more hurtful to man than
woman.

A Muslim cannot obtain (after righteousness) anything
better than a well-disposed, beautiful wife ; such a wife as,
when ordered by her husband to do anything. obeyeth ; and
if her husband look at her, is happy; and if her hus-
band swear by her to do a thing, she doth it to make his
oath true; and if he be absent from her, she wisheth him
well in her own person by guarding herself from inchastity,
and taketh care of his property.

Verily the best of women are those who are content
with little.

Admonish your wives with kindness: for women were
created out of a crooked rib of Adam, therefore if ye wish
to straighten it, ye will break it; and if ye let it alone, it
will be always crooked.

Every woman who dieth, and her husband is pleased
with her, shall enter into paradise.

That which is jawful but disliked by God is divorce.

A widow shall not be married until she be consulted <
1a |

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nor shall a virgin be married until her consent be asked,
whose consent is by her silence.

When the Prophet was informed that the people of
Persia had made the daughter of Chosroes their Queen, he
said, The tribe that constitutes a woman its ruler will not
find redemption.

Do not prevent your women from coming to the
mosque; but their homes are better for them.

O assembly of women, give alms, although it be of your
gold and silver ornaments ; for verily ye are mostly of Hell
on the Day of Resurrection.

When ye return from a journey and enter your town at
night, go not to your houses, so that your wives may have
time to comb their dishevelled hair.

God bas ordained that your brothers should be your
slaves : therefore him whom God hath ordained to be the
slave of his brother, his brother must give him of the food
which he eateth himself, and of the clothes wherewith he
clotheth himself, and not order him to do anything beyond
his power, and if he doth order such a work, he must him-
self assist him in doing it.

He who beateth his slave without fault, or slappeth
him in the face, his atonement for this is freeing him.

A man who behaveth ill to his slave will not enter into
paradise.

Forgive thy servant seventy times a day.

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Of Dumb Animals

Fear God in respect of animals ; ride them when they
are fit to be ridden, and get off when they are tired.

A man came before the Prophet with a Carpet, and
said, ‘‘O Prophet! I passed through a wood, and heard the
voices of the young of birds ; and I took and put them into
my carpet; and their mother came fluttering round my
head, and I uncovered the young, and the mother fell down
upon them, then I wrapped them up in my carpet; and
there are the young which I have.”’’ Then the Prophet said,
*“‘Put them down.’’ And when he did so, their mother
joined them: and the Prophet said, ‘“‘Do you wonder at the
affection of the mother towards her young ? I swear by Him
who hath sent me, verily God is more loving to His servants
than the mother to these young birds. Return them to the
place from which ye took them, and let their mother be with
tiem:

Verily there are rewards for our doing good to dumb
animals, and giving them water to drink. An adulteress
was forgiven who passed by a dog at a well; for the dog
was holding out his tongue from thirst, which was near
killing him ; and the woman took off her boot, and tied it
to the end of her garment, and drew water for the dog,
and gave him to drink; and she was forgiven for that
act.

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Of Hospitality

When a man cometh into his house and remembereth
God and repeateth His name at eating his meals, the Devil
saith to his followers, ‘‘Here is no place for you to stay in
tonight, nor is there any supper for you.”” And when a
man cometh into his house without remembering God's
name, the Devil saith to his followers, ‘‘You have got a
place to spend the night in.”’

Whosoever believeth in God and the Day of Resurrec-
tion must respect his guest, and the period of entertain-
ing him is three days, and after that, if he doeth it longer,
he benefiteth him more. It is not right for a guest to
stay in the house of the host so long as to inconvenience
him.

I heard this, that God is pure, and loveth purity ; and
God is liberal, and Joveth liberality ; God is munificent,
and loveth munificence : then keep the courts of your house
clean, and do not be like Jews who do not clean the courts
of thair houses.

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Of Government

Government is a trust from God, and verily government
will be at the Day of Resurrection a cause of inquiry, unless
he who hath taken it be worthy of it and have acted justly
and done good.

That is the best.of men who disliketh power. Beware!
ye are all guardians; and ye will be asked about your
subjects : then the leader is the guardian of the subject, and
he will be asked respecting the subject ; and a man is a
shepherd to his own family, and will be asked how they
behaved, and his conduct to them; and a wife is guardian to
her husband’s house and children, and will be interrogated
about them; and a slave is a shepherd to his master’s pro-
perty, and will be asked about it, whether he took good care
of it or not.

There is no prince who oppresseth the subject and
dieth, but God forbiddeth Paradise to him.

If a negro slave is appointed to rule over you, hear
him, and obey him, though his head should be like a dried
grape. ,

There is no obedience due to sinful commands, nor to
any other than what is lawful.

He is not strong or powerful who throws people down,
but he is strong who withholds himself from anger.

When one of you getteth angry, he must sit down, and
if his anger goeth away from sitting, so much the better; if
not, let him lie down.

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Of Vanities and Sundry Matters

The angels are not with the company with which is a
dog nor with the company with which 1s a bell.

A bell is the Devil’s musical instrument.

The angels do not enter a house in which is a dog, nor
that in which there are pictures.

Every painter is in Hell Fire: and God will appoint a
person at the Day of Resurrection for every picture he shall
have drawn, to punish him, and they will punish him in
Hell. Then if you must make pictures, make them of trees
and things without souls.

Whosoever shall tell a dream, not having dreamt, shall
be put to the trouble at the Day of Resurrection of joining
two barleycorns ; and he can by no means do it: and he will
be punished. And whosoever listeneth to others’ conversa-
tion, who dislike to be heard by nim, and avoid him, boiling
lead will be poured into his ears at the Day of Resurrection.
And whosoever draweth a picture shall be punished by
ordering him to breathe a spirit into it, and this be can
never do, and so he will be punished as long as God wills.

O servants of God use medicine ; because God hath not
created a pain without a remedy for it, to be the means of
during it, except age ; for that is a pain without a remedy.

He who is not loving to God’s creatures and to his own

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children, God will not be loving to him.

The truest words spoken by any poet are those of
Labid, who said, ‘‘Know that everything is vanity except
God.

Verily he who believed fighteth with his sword and
tongue : J swear by God, verily abuse of infidels in verse is
worse to them than arrows.

Meekness and shame are two branches of faith, and
vain talking and embellishing are two branches of hypocrisy.

The calamity of knowledge is forgetfulness, and to lose
knowledge is this, to speak of it to the unworthy.

Whoso pursueth the road of knowledge, God will direct
him to the road of Paradise ; and verily the angels spread
their arms to receive him who seeketh after knowledge ;
and everything in heaven and earth will ask grace for
him; and verily the superiority of a learned man over a
mere worshipper is like that of the full moon over all the
Stars.

Hearing is not like seeing; verily God acquainted
Moses of his tribe’s worshipping a calf, but he did not
throw down the tables ; but when Moses went to his tribe,
and saw with his eyes the calf they had made, he threw down
the tables and broke them.

Be not extravagant in praising me, as the Christians are
in praising Jesus, Mary’s Son, by calling him God, and the
Son of God; I am only the Lord’s sereant ; then call me the
servant of God, and His messenger.

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It was asked, ‘‘O Messenger of God, what relation is
most worthy of doing good to ?”” Hesaid, ‘Your mother,”
this he repeated thrice ; ‘‘and after her your father, and after
him your other relations by propinguity.”’

God's pleasure is in a father’s pleasure, and God's
displeasure is a father’s displeasure.

Verily one of you is a mirror to his brother: Then if
he see a vice in his brother he must tell him to get rid of it.

The best person near God is the best amongst his
friends ; and the best of neighbours near God is the best
person in his own neighbourhood.

Deliberation in undertaking is pleasing to God, and
haste is pleasing to the devil.

The heart of the old is always young in two things, in
love for the world and length of hope.

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Of Death

Wish not for death any one of you; either a doer of
good works, for peradventure he may increase them by an
increase of life ; or an offender, for perhaps he may obtain the
forgiveness of God by repentance.

When the soul is taken from the body, the eyes follow
it, and look towards it: on this account the eyes remain
open.

When a believer is nearly dead, angels of mercy come,
clothed in white silk garments, and say to the soul of the
dying man, ‘“‘Come out, O thou who art satished with God,
and with whom He is satisfied ; come out to rest, which is
with God, and the sustenance of God’s mercy and compas-
sion, and to the Lord, who is not angry.”’ Then the soul
cometh out like the smell of the best musk, so that verily it
is handed from one angel to another, till they bring it to
the doors of the celestial regions. Then the angels say,
‘“‘What a wonderful pleasant smell this is which is come to
you from the earth!’ Then they bring it to the souls of
the faithful, and they are very happy at its coming ; more
than ye are at the coming of one of your family after a long
journey. And the souls of the faithful ask it, ‘‘What hath
such an one done, and such an one ? how are they ?”’ and
they mention the names of their friends who are left in the
world. And some of them say, ‘“‘Let is alone, do not ask it,
become it was grieved in the world, and came from thence
aggrieved; ask it when it is at rest.’”’ Then the soul faith
when it is at ease, “‘Verily such an one about whom ye ask

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is dead.’ And as they do not see him amongst themselves,
they say to one another, ‘‘Surely he was carried to his
mother, which is Hell Fire.”’

And verily when an infidel is near death, angels of
punishment come to him, clothed in sackcloth, and say to
his soul, ‘‘Come out, thou discontented, and with whom
God is displeased ; come to God’s punishments.”” Then it
cometh out with a disagreeable smell, worse than the worst
stench of a dead body, until they bring it upon the earth,
and they say, ‘‘What an extraordinary bad smell this is ;”
till they bring it to the souls of the infidels.

A bier was passing, and the Prophet stood up for-it;
‘and we stood with him and said, O Prophet ! verily this bier
is of a Jewish woman ; we must not respect iti-7.- 1 entne
Prophet said, ‘‘Verily death is dreadful ; therefore when ye
see a bier stand up.”’

Do not abuse or speak ill of the dead, because they
have arrived at what they sent before them ; they have
received the rewards of their actions ; if the reward is good,
you must not mention them as sinful ; and if it is bad,
perhaps they may be forgiven, but if not, your mentioning
their badness is of no use.

Sit not upon graves, nor say your prayers fronting
them.

Whoso consoleth one in misfortune, for him is areward
equal to that of the sufferer.

Whoso comforteth a woman who has lost her child will

THE TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD Pa
be covered with a garment in Paradise.

The Prophet passed by graves in Medina, and turned
his face towards them, and said, ‘‘Peace be to you, O people
of the graves. God forgive us and you! Ye have passed on
before us, and we are following you.”

172 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Of the State after Death

To whomsoever God giveth wealth, and he doth not
perform the charity due from it, his wealth will be made
into the shape of a serpent on the Day of Resurrection,
which shall not have any hair upon its head, and this is a
sign of its poison and long life, and it hath two black spots
upon its eyes, and it will be twisted round his neck like a
chain on the Day of Resurrection ; then the serpent will
seize the man’s jaw-bones, and will say, ‘‘Il am thy wealth,
the charity for which thou didst not give, and I am thy
treasure, from which thou didst not separate any alms.”

The Prophet asked us, ‘‘Did any one of you dream ?”’
We said, ‘‘No.’’He said, ‘“‘But I did. Two men came to
me and took hold of my hands, and carried me to a pure
land : and behold, there was a man sitting and another
standing : the first had an iron hook in his hand, and was
hooking the other in the lip, and split it to the back of the
neck, and then did the same with the other lip. While this
was doing the first healed, and the man kept on from one lip
to the other.”’ I said, ‘‘What is this ?”° They said, ‘‘Move
on,” and we did so till we reached a man sleeping on this
back, and another standing at his head with a stone in his
hand, with which he was breaking the other’s head, and
afterwards rolled the stone about and then followed it, and
had not yet returned, when the man’s head was healed and
well. Then he broke it again, and I said, ‘‘What is this ?”
They said, ‘‘Walk on,” and we walked, till we came to a
hole like an oven, with its tor narrow and its bottom wide,
and fire was burning under it, and there were naked men

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and women in it ; and when the fire burnt high the people
mounted also, and when the fire subsided they subsided
also. Then I said ‘‘What is this ?’”’ They said, ‘‘“Move on,”
and we went on till we came to a river of blood, with a man
standing in the middle of it, and another man on the bank,
with stones in his hands: and when the man in the river
attempted to come out, the other threw stones in his face,
and made himreturn, And I said, ‘‘What is this ?” They
said, ‘“‘Advance,’’ and we moved forward, till we arrived at
a green garden, in which wasa large tree, and an old man
and children sitting on the roots of it, and near it wasa
man lighting a fire. Then I was carried upon the tree, and
put into a house which was in the middle of it,—a better
house I have never seen: and there were old men, young
men, women and children. After that they brought me out
of the house and carried me io the top of the tree, and put
me into a better house, where were old men and young men.
And I said to my two conductors, ‘Verily ye have shown
me a great many things to-night, then inform me of what I
have seen.”’ They said, ‘“‘Yes : as to the man whom you saw
with split lips, he was a liar, and will be treated in that way
till the Day of Resurrection ; and the person you saw
getting his head broken is a man whom God taught the
Qur'an, and he did not repeat it in the night, nor practice
what isin it by day, and he will be treated as you saw till
the Day of Resurrection ; and the people you saw in the
oven are adulterers ; and those you saw in the river are
receivers of usury ; and the old man you saw under the
tree is Abraham; and the children around them are the
children of men: and the person who was lighting the fire
was Malik, the keeper of hell; and the first house you
entered was for the common believers ; and as to the second
house, it is for the martyrs : and we who conducted you are
one of Gabriel, and the other Michael; then raise up

174 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

your head,” and I did so, and saw above it as it were a
cloud : and they said, ‘‘That is your dwelling.” I said, ‘Call
it here, that I may enter it,”’ and they said, ‘‘Verily your life
remaineth, but when you have completed it, you will come
into your house.”

When God created Paradise, He said to Gabriel, ‘“Go
and look at it,’ then Gabriel went and looked at it and at
the things which God had prepared for the people of it.
After that Gabriel came and said, ‘“‘O my Lord ! I swear by
thy glory no one will hear a description of Paradise but
will be ambitious of entering it.” After that God surrounded
Paradise with distress and troubles, and said, ‘‘O Gabriel,
go and look at Paradise.” And he went and looked, and
them returned and said, ‘‘O my Lord, I fear that verily no
one will enter it.” And when God created Hell Fire He
said to Gabriel. Go and take a look at it." And he went
and looked at it, and returned and said, ‘‘O my Lord, I
swear by thy glory that no one who shall hear a description
of Hell Fire will wish to enter it.” Then God surrounded it
with sins, desires, and vices, after that said to Gabriel, ‘‘Go
and look at Hell Fire,” and he went and looked at it, and
said, ““O my Lord, I swear by thy glory I am afraid that
every one will enter Hell. because sins are so sweet that
there is none but will incline to them.”

If ye knew what I know of the condition of the
resurrection and futurity, verily ye would weep much and
laugh little.

Then I said, ‘‘O messenger of God ! shall we perish
while the virtuous are amongst us ?’ He said, Yes, when
the wickedness shall be excessive, verily there will be tribes
of my sects that will consider the wearing of silks and

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drinking liquor lawful, and will listen to the lute : and there
will be men with magnificent houses, and their milch animals.
will come to them in the evening, full of milk, and a man
will come begging a little and they will say, Come to-
morrow. Then God will quickly send a punishment upon
them, and will change others into the shape of monkeys and.
swine, unto the Day of Resurrection.

Verily among the signs of the Resurrection will be the
taking away of knowledge from amongst men; and their
being in great ignorance and much wickedness and much
drinking of liquor, and diminution of men, and there being
many women; to such a degree that there will be fifty
women to one man, and he will work for a livelihood for
the women.

How can I be happy, when Israfil hath put the trumpet
to his mouth to blow it, leaning his ear towards the true
God for orders, and hath already knit his brow, waiting in
expectation of orders to blow it ?

176 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Of Destiny

The hearts of men are at the disposal of God like unto
one heart, and He turneth them about in and way that He
pleaseth. O Director of hearts, turn our hearts to obey
Thee.

The first thing which God created was a pen, and He
said to it, ‘‘Write.”” It said, ‘‘What shall I write 7 And
God said, ‘‘Write down the quantity of every separate thing
to be created.’’ And it wrote all that was and all that will
be to eternity.

There is not one among you whose sitting-place is not
written by God whether in the fire or in Paradise. The
Companions said, ‘‘O Prophet ! since God hath appointed
our place, may we confide in this and abandon our religious
and moral duty 2°’ He said, **No, because the happy will
do good works, and those who are of the miserable will do
bad works ”

‘Aisha relates that the Prophet said to her, “Do you
know, O ’Aisha ! the excellence of this night ?”’ (the fifteenth
of Ramadan.) I said, ‘‘What is it, O Prophet 7 Fie sata.
““One thing in this night is, that all the children of Adam to
be born in the year are written down ; and also those who
are to die in it, and all the actions of the children of Adam
are carried up to heaven in this night ; and their allowances
are sent down.” Then I said, ‘‘O Prophet, do none enter
Paradise except by God’s mercy ?”’ He said, ‘No none
enter except by Gud’s favour,”’ this he said thrice. I said,

THE TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

“You, also, O Prophet! will you not enter into Paradise,
excepting by God’s compassion?” Then the Prophet put
his hand on his head, and said, “I shall not enter, except
God cover me with His mercy ;”’ this he said thrice.

A man asked the Prophet what was the mark whereby
a man might know the reality of his faith. He Said, “If
thou derive pleasure from the good which thou hast done,
and be grieved for the evil which thou hast committed, thou
art a true believer.”’” The man said, ‘‘What doth a fault
really consist in?’ He said, ““When anything pricketh thy
conscience forsake it.’’

Tam no more than a man: when I Order you anything
with respect to religion, receive it, and when I order you
about the affairs of the world then I am nothing more than
a man.

NOTES
THE MEKKA SPEECHES

I.—THE PoeTiIc PERIOD

The rhyming prose in which the Qur'an is written may
be seen to best advantage in this earliest phase of Muham-
mad’s oratory, when the sentences are short and the rhythm
more chantant than in the later speeches. “The Smiting”’
(p. 41), will serve as a specimen of the sound of the
original Arabic, as far as it can be represented in Roman
Gnaracters -—

Bismi-llahi-r-rahmani-r-r ahim

Al-qari‘atu ma-l-qari‘ah

Wa-ma adraka ma-l-qari‘ah

Yawma yakanu-n-nasu ka-l-farashi-l-mabthath

Wa-takanu-l-jibalu ka-l-‘ihni-l-manfash

Fa-amma man thaqulat mawazinuhu, fa-huwa fi ‘ishatin
radiyah

Wa-amma man khaff at mawazinuhu fa-ummuhu hawiyah

Wa-ma adraka ma-hiyah

Narun hamiyah

The effect of which may te thus roughly preserved in
English :

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

The Smiting! What is the Smiting ?

And what shall teach thee what is the Smiting ?

The Day when men shall be like moths adritt,

And the hills shall be like wool-flocks rift :

Then as for him whose scales are heavy, his shall be a life

of bliss :

NOTES 179

And as for him whose scales are light, a place in the Pit
is his:

And what shall teach thee what that place is—

A Fire that blazes !

P. 39. THe NicHt.—The formula ‘‘Jn the Name of God,
the Compassionate, the Merciful,’ precedes all the chapters
of the Quran but one. We,—God speaks in the plural in
the Qur‘an.

P. 40. THE COUNTRY.—The two highways: the steep
one to heaven, and the smooth one to hell,

The people of the right hand—those that receive the
book of the record of their actions in their right hand—
the blessed. Contrariwise—the people of the left hand—the
damned.

P. 4]. THE SMITING.—One of many similar names for
the Day of Judgment. The Bottomless Pit, **Al-Hawiyah,”
is the lowest stage of the Hell of the Qur’an.

P. 42. THE QUAKING.—Burdens, i.e. the dead. Her
tidings: ‘‘The tidings of the earth are these—she will bear
witness to the actions of every man and woman done upon
her surface.’’—Tradition of Muhammad.

P. 43. THE RENDING ASUNDER.—Reporters : two angels
who note respectively the good and the evil deeds and words
of every man.

P. 46. THE BACKBITER.—This speech is said to have
been levelled to a personal enemy.

lasting Hell, “‘Al-Hutameh,” is the third stage of the
Muslim Inferno.

P. 47. THESPLENDOUR OF MoRNING.—Evidently utter-
ed in a time of desxondency and with the intention of self-
encouragement.

P. 48. Tue Mosr Higu.—The Books of old. Muham-

180 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

mad asserted that his doctrine was a revival of the religion
of Abraham and the patriarchs, as it was before the Jews
corrupted it.

P. 49. THE WRAPPING.—A simile from the wrapping
of a head in a turban.

Camels ten months gone with young were the Arabs’
most valuable property.

The child that was buried alive. Infanticide of female
children was among the crimes of the ancient Arabs.

The Books—in which men’s actions are recorded.

Stars that hide, i.e., that set; or, as others say “‘that
retrogress,”’ 7.e., the planets.

Mad. The people commonly believed Muhammad to
be possessed with a jinni (or genius).

Pelted devil. The evil jinn or devils are supposed to act
the eavesdropper on the confines of heaven, and to be driven
away by shooting Stars.

A reminder, scil., of the true religion of Abraham and
the prophets, which men had forgotten, Cf. LANE: Selec-
tions from the Qur'an, 1xxxi. 15, 47, 48 (2d ed., Trubner’s
Oriental Series).

P. 51. THE News.—One of the many names which
Muhammad employed to bring home to his people the
reality and fearfulness of the Last Day.

Tent-pegs. Mountains were believed to keep the earth
steady, as pegs do a tent.

P. 53. THE Fact.—One of the names of the Last Day:
the event which must inevitably happen.

Abasing the sinners, and exalting the righteous.

Three kinds: the ‘‘outstrippers,”’ the ‘people of the
right hand,’ and the ‘‘people of the left hand.’’ In the

NOTES 18}

original the same word means ‘“‘right hand’ and ‘“‘happi-
ness,’ or ‘‘good omen ;’’ contrariwise, “‘left hand’? and
“‘misfortune.”’ Cp. the use of dexter and sinister. Arabic
is so comprehensive a language that a single word can be

used in different senses by slight variations.

The outstrippers, i.e., those who are the first to adopt
the true religion—the prophets and apostles, who shall be
rewarded by being allowed to stand nearest to God in the
next world. The following fifteen lines describe their happy
fate ; after which, fourteen refer to the people of the right
hand, or ordinary believers ; and then seventeen lines to the
people of the left hand or damned.

P. 54. Zakkam: A thorny tree with a bitter fruit,
which grows up from the bottomless pit.

P. 55. Preserved Book.—Muhammad taught that every
“revelacion” in the Qur’dn was but a transcript from the
pages of a great book, known as the Mother of the Book,”
“‘preserved”’ under the throne of God. The sentence, Let
none touch it but the purified, is commonly inscribed upon
the cover of the Qur’an.

Those brought nearest i.e., the outstrippers, or prophets.

P. 57. THE MeRCIFUL.—Then which of the bounties,
etc. A refrain or burden of this kind is rare in the Qur’an,
and is in no other instance so often repeated. The twain are
mankind and the jinn (or genii). ‘Jinn,’ it may be remark-
ed, is a plural, and the singular is “‘jinni’’ a (genius), for
the masculine, and “‘jinniyeh” for the feminine.

The two Easts. The rising-places of the sun in summer
and winter; the two Wests, the corresponding setting-
places.

P. 58. Two notables, or ‘‘weighty ones,”’ i.e., men and
jinn.

182 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

Pp. 61. THE UNity.—This profession of faith is held
by Muslims to be equal in value to a third of the whole
Qur'an.

P. 62. THE FATIHAH, or ‘‘Opening”’ chapter, so called
because it is placed at the beginning of the authorised
arrangement of the Qur'an. It is the Paternoster of Islam
and is repeated many times in the five daily prayers and on
every solemn occasion.

I]. —THE RHETORICAL PERIOD

P. 65. THE KINGDOM. Say : Le., God bids Muhammad
say. It must never be forgotten that Muhammad is only
supposed to recite what God wrote in the Preserved Book
(see note to p. 26) before the world began.

P. 68 THE Moon.—Sign, i.é., miracle, which Muham-
mad insistently declared his inability to work.

The Summoner : the archangel Israfil.

Called it a lie, 1.e., denied the doctrine of one God and
of a Day of Judgment.

P. 69. ‘Ad: an ancient Arab people, destroyed in pre-
historic days. See LANE Selections from the Qur'an, 60-62.

Thamad: another tribe, which experienced a similar fate.
See LANE, ibid.

P. 71. Q.—As to the meaning of this letter of the
Arabic alphabet, according to the Muslim commentators,
“God alone knoweth what He meaneth by it.”

A warner from among themselves. The Mekkans were
offended that an angel was not sent to them as an apostle,
instead of a more man.

Marvellous thing : the Resurrection.

The people of Tubba : the Himyarites of Arabia Felix.

A driver and a witness. —TWwo angels, who are supposed

NOTES 183

to carry on the ensuing colloquy with God.

P. 73. A tyrant.—Muhammad was sent to warn, not to
compel the obedience and faith of his people.

P. 74. Y. S.—See note to Q above, and to ps 102
below.

Plain Exemplar : the Preserved Book, mentioned above
(note to p. 55).

P. 75. Enter into Paradise : the people had stoned him
to death.

P. 76. Her resting-place.—The sun is feminine in
Arabic, and the moon masculine.

P. 78. Poetry.—It was a common charge against
Muhammad that he was a mad poet.

P. 80. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, otherwise called THE
NiGHT JOURNEY, from the reference in the first verse to a
dream in which Muhammad saw himself carried from the
Kaaba (the Sacred House) at Mekka, to the Temple (the
furthest Mosque) at Jerusalem ; upon which Muslim
theologians have raised a noble superstructure of fable. The
first verse is probably later than the rest. The two sins and
punishments of the Jews have also greatly exercised the
commentators’ minds. What they were Muhammad pro-
bably did not very precisely know himself.

P. 82. The sun of the road, i.e., the traveller.
P. 83. A just cause : apostacy, adultery, or murder.

P. 83. Daughters from among the angels:—The Arabs
worshipped the angels and jinn as daughters of God; and
it is against this polytheism and blasphemous relationship
that Muhammad protests, whilst he never denies but
contrariwise admits the existence of such spirits. Further
on (p. 84) he refers to these angels and other Arabian

184 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

divinities, as beings who are not to be invoked, since they
can have no influence for good or ill, and who themselves
are in hope and fear of God’s mercy and torment, like
human beings. It should be noticed that hitherto Muhammad
has directed his preaching against disbelief in the One God,
but has not pointedly attacked the idolatry of the Mekkans.
In Y.S., however, he begins to speak of other goods (p. 78),
and in the Third or Argumentative Period, the angels and
jinn which the Mekkans worshipped, and represented in the
shape of idols, are frequently denounced, especially under
the name of Partners (see pp. 94, 99, 104, 105, 109, 110, 113
Ti etc.)

P. 85. Tke accursed tree : Zakkim, see note to p. 24.
The full Koranic history of Adam and Eve, and how Iblis,
the father of the devils, refused to do homage to the father
of mankind, may be read in Lane's Selections, pp. 49-52.

P. 87. Well-nigh tempted : referring apparently to an
inclination of Muhammad to temporize with idolatry on a
special occasion.

P. 88. The Spirit: Gabriel, the teacher of Moham-
mad, and the bearer of revelations from God to His
prophet.

P. 90. Call upon God, or call upon tke Merciful.—
Mohammad’s use of two general names for God had
apparently caused some confusion among the faithful, which
this verse removed.

The ‘‘Children of Israel”’ speech is especially important,
since it contains more definite regulations of conduct than
any other of the orations delivered at Mekka.

Ilf. THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD

P. 93. THE BELIEVER. Twice hast thou given us death,

NOTES 185

etc.—Referring to the absence of life before birth, and the
deprivation of it at death, and to the being quickened at
birth, and raised again after death.

P. 95. Their footprints, or vestiges : i.e. their buildings
and public works.

Moses. For the Qur’anic history of the Israelites, see
LANE’S Selections, pp. 97—131.

P. 99. Iam bidden to resign myself: i.e. lam didden
to become a Muslim, for Muslim (Moslem or Musulman)
means “‘one who is resigned,” and Islam, belonging to the
same root, signifies ‘‘resignation,”’ or “‘self-surrender.’’ This
is the correct name of the religion taught by the Arabian
prophet, who would have regarded the epithet ‘““Muhammad-
an.’’ as applied to the creed, or the professor thereof, as
nothing short of blasphemy.

JoNAH. P. 102. A. L. R.—Letters the import of which
is aS mysterious as Q. and Y.S. before, and A. L.M.R.
afterwards. Noldeke believes them to be abbreviation of the
names of the first reporters of the speeches.

P. 103. I had dwelt a lifetime: i.e. I should not have
waited till I was forty before I began preaching, if I was the
designing impostor you take me for.

P. 104. Ye are in ships—and they run with them.—The
reader must have observed that sudden transitions from the
second to the third person, and from the singular to the
plural, are very common in the Qur’an. They may perhaps
be regarded as convincing evidence of the fidelity of
Muhammad’s reporters.

P. 109. God hath taken Him a son: referring to the
Christian doctrine.

P. 111. Kibla: The point towards which prayer must
be said. See p. 137. |

186 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

P. 112. Now!—The angel Gabriel is credited with this
taunt.

THUNDER. P. 114. A. L. M. R.—Mystic letters as
above ; perhaps for AL-Mughirah, as the first reporter of
this particular speech.

P. 116. Patrons, i.e. \dols.

P. 116. Join what God hath bidden to be joined: i.e.
believe in the whole series of propHets, and join good works
to faith.

P. 119. Mother of the Book.—The Preserved Book
mentioned before in THE FACT (séeé note to p. 55).

THE MEDINA SPEECHES

DeEcePTION. P. 123. Obey God, and obey the Apostle.—
This is a sure indication of the Medina origin of at least
this verse, for the self-importance of the phrase would have
been inappropriate in Mohammad’s weak and insignificant
position at Mekka. (The spéech is, however, by some
ascribed to the Mekka division.) Further on the words
Believe in God and His Apostle (in TRON, p. 125), and They
who swear fealty to thee do but swear fealty to God (in
VICTORY, p. 129), indicate the same spiri. of self-exaltation
which began with the prophet’s prosperity at Medina.

IRON. P. 125. Manifest signs: tht revelations con-
tained in the Qur’an.

P. 127. It is written in the Book : i.e. Every event is
set down in the Preserved Book before the event itself is
created.

God is rich: i.e. He has no need of your grudging
alms.

Victory. Py 129.—The victory in question was pro-
bably the peaceful but real triumph of the Truce of

NOTES 187

Hudeybia, in A.H. 6; though some commentators prefer to
regard the speech as prophetical of the conquest of Mekka
two years later.

P. 130. The Arabs of the desert who were left behind
were certain tribes who held aloof from the pilgrimage
towards Mekka, which ended in the Truce of Hudeybia.
Mohammed punished them by refusing to allow them to
share in the booty which soon after fell fo the faithfull in the
Khaibar expedition; hence the reference on p. 131.

P. 132. Jn the valley of Mekka: referring to the Truce
of Hudeybia. Kept you away from the Sacred Mosque: the
Koreysh refused to allow Muhammad and his followers to
enter Mekka or perform the pilgrimage: whereupon the
truce was concluded, by which the pilgrimage was to take
place (Ye shall surely enter the Sacred Mosque) in the follow-

“oO

ing year (see Introduction, p. 28.)
P. 132. Traces i.e. dust from touching the ground,

P. 134. HELp.—Revealed after the conquest of Mekka,
and shortly before Muhammad’s death, and believed to have
given him warning of it.

THE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA

The forty paragraphs arranged on pp. 137-145, contain,
it is believed, all the definite ordinances of Muhammad as
set forth in the Medina speeches, with the exception of
some regulations_relating to women. The bulk of the
Medina speeches are indeed rather collections of separate
decisions or ‘“‘rulings’’? put together for convenience of
reference by the Muslims themselves than separate and
complete orations. But as the practical teaching is inter-
spersed with frequent and verbose prophetical legends of
‘the kind with which the reader is already perhaps only too
familiar and with animadversions on the political parties

188 TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

of Medina, and similar ephemeral matters, it has been
thought best to extract the marrow of these lengthy and
composite harangues, and place them in some sort of con-
nected order. Chapter II, for instance, “The Cow”
contains 286 verses; the first half is filled with the usual
arguments and illustrations, and the old stories about Adam
and Moses; whilst the second half contains a certain
number of laws and* precepts mixed with many repetitions
of the proofs and appeals to reason which occur in most of
the preceding speeches: altogether, 29 verses out of 286
are needed for the purpose of showing what Muhammad
actually prescribed in civil and religious law. For an
account of the modern interpretation of this law, see
LANE’s Modern Egyptians, 5th ed. Ch. III. ; SELL’s Faith of
Islam and HuGues’ Notes on Mohammadanism, 2nd ed.
1877.

P. 137. Observe the prayer, and the middle prayer. It
is not easy to make out the five daily prayers of Islam in
the Qur’an. In the speech entitled ‘“‘Hid’’ (Mekka, Third
Period, xi. 116) it is enjoined: ‘‘Observe prayer at two
ends of the day, and at two parts of the night’; and again,
in “‘T. H.”’ (xx. 130), the praises of God are to be celebrated
“before the rising of the sun and before its setting, and at
times of the night and at the ends of the day”; and in ‘“‘Ihe
Greeks” (xxx. 17) praise is ordained ‘tin the evening and in
the morning, and at the evening and at noon.” The Muslim
commentators differ as to the application of these injunc-
tions to the five times of prayer recognized throughout the
Muslim world; which are (J) just after sunset, (2) at
nightfall, (3) at daybreak, (4) just after noon, and (5) in the
middle of the afternoon.

Turn thy face towards the Sacred Mosque: i.e. tewards
the Kaaba of Mekka. Originally Muhammad placed the

NOTES 189

Kibla, or direction of prayer, at Jerusalem ; but after his
disagreement with the Jews of Medina he reverted to the old
Mekkan temple as the focus of Islam.

P. 138. It is enacted (ii. 183) that the fast is to be
observed from the time when you can distinguish a white
thread from a black thread in the morning, till night ; but
from nightfall till dawn the Muslim may eat and drink and
enjoy himself.

P. 139. Make mention of God’s name over the beasts:
i.e. Sacrifice them, saying, ‘‘In the name of God.”’

P. 142. The Qur’an contains a list of prohibited degrees
(‘““Women,”’ iv. 26, 27), which comprises mothers and step-
mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, fostermothers, fos-
ter sisters, mothers: in-law, step-daughters, daughters-in-law,
and two sisters, and other men’s wives.

P. 143. Keep the women in houses. Immuring was after-
wards changed to stoning both the man and the woman.

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

P. 149. Retaliation is equal.—It is worth noticing, that
while sin is requited with equal punishment or with for-
giveness, good deeds art rewarded tenfold.

P. 151. Rising or:setting of the sun.—The exact moment
was forbidden, for fear of even the suspicion of sun-
worship.

P. 163. It is recorded of the prophet, that when, being
on a journey, he alighted at any place, he did not say his
prayers until he had unsaddled his camel.

190

TABLE-TALK OF MUHAMMAD

CHAPTERS OF THE QUR’AN TRANSLATED

IN THIS VOLUME

The Fatihah, p. 62. Ixxxi. The Wrapping, 49.
Jonah, 102. Ixxxii. The Rending Asunder,
T he Thunder, 114. 43.

The Children of Israel, Ixxxvii. The Most High, 48,
80. xc. The Country, 40.
S74. xcli. The Night, 39,

The Believer, 93. xciili. The Splendour of Mor-
The Victory, 129. ning, 47.

Oe it. xcix. The Quaking, 42.

The Moon, 65. c. The Chargers, 44.
The Merciful, 57. ci. The Smiting, 41.
The.Fact, 53. civ. The Back biter. 46.
Tron: 125, cvii, Support, 45.
Deception, 123. ex... hep. 134.

The Kingdom, 65. cxii, The Unity, 61.

Tre News, 51.

PORTIONS OF CHAPTERS, PP. 137-145

The Cow. 137-147.

x.
The Family of Imran, XXil.
A3/; XXIV.
Women, 141, 142, 143-
145 Ixii,

The Table, 140, 141-142

THE END

Immunity, 139, 14+

The Pilgrimage, 139.

The Light, 142, 143,
144.

The Congregation, 137.

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